Brittany Aldean Remembers Running Toward Her Husband During Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting
In an Instagram post, Jason Aldean's wife Brittany offers a heart-wrenching recollection of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting on Sunday night (Oct. 1). Her husband was onstage when the shooting began, and Brittany -- who is pregnant with the couple's first child together -- says that her first thought was not to run away, but to run toward him.
"I was not with Jason, but with some friends in a tent closer to Mandalay [Bay, where the shooter was]," Brittany recounts. "As you can imagine, my first instinct was to run to him, and his was the same."
Brittany says that, at first, she and her husband took cover "behind equipment onstage with some of our road family, bullets flying past."
"All I could think was 'I never even got to hold my baby,'" she adds.
Country Stars Respond Following Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting
After telling those they were with that they loved them, the Aldeans "ran for cover, where we stayed for the next couple hours." Brittany notes that there was a lot of confusion -- they didn't know if there was more than one shooter, or where the shooting was coming from -- but that she was amazed at how the first responders "completely put everyone else's lives before theirs."
"It's been hard to process what happened the other night ... still feel like I'm in a daze," Brittany admits. "I can't put into words the pain and heartache we feel for the ones who are no longer with us ... Each and every one of you are and will forever be in our prayers."
Aldean has canceled his tour dates scheduled for Oct. 6, 7 and 8 “out of respect for the victims, their families and our fans.” He will resume his tour on Oct. 12 in Tulsa, Okla.
“It has been an emotional time for everyone involved this week, so we plan to take some time to mourn the ones we have lost and be close with our family and friends,” Aldean says in the press release. “Our first time back onstage will be a very tough and emotional thing for us, but we will all get through it together and honor the people we lost by doing the only thing we know how to do — play our songs for them.”
Remembering the Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting Victims