Jason Aldean After Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting: ‘Time to Come Together and Stop the Hate’
Jason Aldean was onstage on Sunday night (Oct. 1) when a gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Nev., killing at least 59 people and wounding more than 500 others. About 24 hours after the tragedy, Aldean posted some thoughts to social media, urging fans to "come together and stop the hate."
"Over the last 24 hours, I have gone through lots of emotions. Scared, anger, heartache, compassion and many others," Aldean writes. "I truely [sic] don't understand why a person would want to take the life of another. Something has changed in this country and in this world lately that is scary to see."
Aldean, who has two daughters already and a son on the way, admits that he's becoming scared of raising children in the type of world where something like the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting could take place. "At the end of the day," he notes, "we are all humans, and we are all Americans, and it's time to start acting like it and stand together as ONE!"
Country Stars Respond Following Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting
"That is the only way we will ever get this country to be better than it has ever been," he adds, "but we have a long way to go, and we have to start now."
A fan-shot video video shows Aldean performing “When She Says Baby” as shots begin to ring out; Aldean rushes offstage mid-song once he realizes what’s happening. His pregnant wife, Brittany, was at the festival with him; fortunately, she, Aldean and their crew were unharmed.
"My heart aches for the victims and their families of this senseless act," Aldean writes near the end of his post. "I am so sorry for the hurt and pain everyone is feeling right now, and there are no words I can say to to take that pain away. Just know u all are in my heart and my prayers as we all go through this together."
Remembering the Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting Victims