Jason Aldean Salutes ‘Route 91 Family’ on Anniversary of Vegas Mass Shootings
Jason Aldean turned to social media on Friday (Oct. 1) to mark the fourth anniversary of the Las Vegas mass shootings that took place at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, posting a shoutout to everyone who went through the experience together.
"Hard to believe it’s been 4 years already," Aldean writes soberly on Twitter to accompany a picture of the festival logo with a pair of wings attached. "Thinking about our Route 91 family today. We love u guys!"
He ends his post by adding the hashtag #foreverbonded.
A lone gunman killed 58 people when he opened fire from his room at the Mandalay Bay hotel across the street from the festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. Hundreds more were wounded, and many of the country stars who were on hand for the tragedy have been forward about how it has impacted them since.
Aldean was on stage performing his set on the closing night of the three-day festival when the shooting began, and he offers up words of remembrance every year on the anniversary of the mass shootings.
He was especially reflective when he posted about it in 2020, writing, "That night was probably the worst night of our lives and not a day goes by that we don’t think about the people who lost their lives and the families who have forever been affected by it. October 1st will always be a day for us that is extremely hard to relive. To everyone in the Route 91 family, we love u guys and we couldn’t have gotten through it without you."
There has been some closure for the survivors of the mass shootings, for which authorities were never able to establish a motive. On Sept. 30, 2020, just one day before the third anniversary of the shootings, a judge approved an $800 million settlement to end a class-action lawsuit from more than 4,000 victims and their families. A portion of the settlement came from the Mandalay Bay, but the majority — more than $750 million — came from liability insurance.