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1 SCV Resident Killed, Several Others Wounded in Las Vegas Shooting.


BACKGROUND: From his position on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire on the crowd at an annual country music festival on the night of Sunday, October 1, 2017. It was the deadliest mass shooting by an individual in the United States, leaving 58 dead and 851 wounded. Paddock made himself the 59th casualty.

[Monday, October 2, 2017] — Numerous Santa Clarita Valley residents took to social media early Monday morning, some reporting loved ones who were safe after the Las Vegas shooting and some who had been injured.


John Phippen, deceased
Travis Phippen

John Phippen of Santa Clarita was killed in the Las Vegas shooting.

Phippen was in attendance at the concert near the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino with his son, Travis Phippen, when he was shot and killed by the gunman, Travis said.

"He was a good man and (had) a smile that would light up a room," said Thomas Polucki, a close friend. "He liked to sing while he worked. We did a lot of projects together ... He's (an) amazing soul and he will be missed."

Travis Phippen was shot in the arm, and as a medic, worked to bandage at least 14 other wounded victims at the scene.


Travis Phippen, left, and John Phippen, Route 91 Harvest festival.

Phippen owned the remodeling and repair company JP Specialties.

"My daughter sent me a text that Travis had called her crying and that was before he learned about his father," Jim Martin told The Signal newspaper.

Travis Phippen and Jim's daughter, Megan Martin, each attended Valencia High School, he said.

"He (Travis) called her from the hospital," Martin said referring to his daughter.

"He sent her a picture of his gunshot wound, a single gunshot. "That was when he thought everything would be OKwith his dad."

Local resident and businessman Jerry Citarella was a longtime friend of John Phippen. Citarella and his wife JoJo said they are still in shock at the death of this "all-around good guy."

"He was an amazingly talented craftsman who loved his family, friends and living life to the fullest," said Jerry Citarella, who knew Phippen for 15 years. "He was just a real good, solid dude."

A neighbor has set up a GoFundMe page for Phippen's family.


Sgt. Andrew Dahring, LASD

KHTS AM-1220 reported that approximately 15 LASD personnel were in attendance at the Las Vegas strip concert that erupted into gunfire Sunday night. Of those in attendance, three were wounded, according to Sheriff's Station officials.

Sgt. Andrew "Andy" Dahring, Saugus resident and former staff at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station (currently assigned to the Board of Supervisors office), was injured, according to LASD officials.

"Officer Dahring has been injured, another is in critical condition, and the status of the third is unknown," the LASD official said.

Dahring was attending the event with his wife Nancy, a lieutenant with the Sheriff's Department. He was admitted to a Las Vegas hospital for treatment and then transported to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena.

Dahring reportedly sustained a gunshot wound to the shoulder and was waiting to undergo surgery at noon Monday.

Five current SCV Sheriff's Station employees attended the concert and were uninjured.

UPDATE: "I was shot twice," Dahring later wrote. "The first must have been a ricochet, or at least passed through something before hitting me on the right side of my back. That round bruised the lung." Dahring subsequently made lieutenant and was assigned once again to SCV Station in 2018.


Dominica Zeolla

A friend of Santa Clarita real estate agent Dominica Zeolla, a Canyon High School and COC graduate, reported Zeolla "made it through surgery and is recovering in the ICU," according to Facebook posts and confirmed by multiple on- and offline sources.

"Dominica Zeolla is out of surgery and stable in ICU," writes Taylor Weinstein. "All her immediate family has arrived and is by her side."

Friends have set up a GoFundMe page to help her pay medical expenses.


Cesar Ranuschio

BodyShop661 owner Cesar Ranuschio was reportedly struck by the gunfire, according to Facebook posts by multiple friends.

"Please keep Cesar Ranuschio in your thoughts and prayers," writes Sean Weber. "He was shot in the chest tonight in Vegas."

"Cesar got hurt but will be okay," writes his fiancee, Jessica Daugherty.

As of about 8:40 a.m. Monday morning, 515 people are reported injured and 59 are reported deceased, said Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo.


Kim Peoples

Meadows Elementary School teacher Kim Peoples was shot in the leg, and friends reported to The Signal that she is recovering.

Peoples was with two other Santa Clarita women, Nicole Stegall and Melissa Gilman, who were not hurt, Stegall's husband Dan reported.


Jessi Presten

Jessi Presten, a loan officer at Skyline Home Loans, had minor surgery to remove a bullet but she is out of the hospital now, according to a colleague in real estate.


Stacey Brown Fusano

Stacey Brown Fusano of Saugus "is being discharged with a bullet souvenir in her (buttocks). It went into her abdomen didn't hit any organs lodged in her butt muscle," according to a post Monday from Fusano's friend Annee Baumgartner Powell. "They said it would cause more damage to remove it."


Susi C. LaPorte

Susi C. LaPorte of Santa Clarita was wounded by multiple gunshot wounds to the neck and upper torso, and is currently in the Intensive Care Unit at a Las Vegas hospital, according to family members, KHTS reports.

"They're doing lots of scans and tests, draining fluid from one collapsed lung and they're scanning her neck for other damage," said LaPorte's husband, Mitch LaPorte. "She's responding well and they say she should heal okay if there are no complications."

As of 1 p.m. on Monday, LaPorte had yet to enter surgery, but she is stabilized, responsive and no vital organs were struck.


Bruce "Bud" Wayne Horn

Bruce "Bud" Wayne Horn, owner of Horns Backflow and Plumbing in Valencia, was identified as the fourth Santa Clarita resident injured, and was shot in the abdomen multiple times, KHTS reports.

Horn was sedated at a Las Vegas hospital Monday afternoon after surviving two surgeries, and is with his wife, father and brother, according to close friend Matt Pumilio.

"He's in and out of consciousness," Pumilio said. "That's all I really know. I'm just kind of waiting to find out if he's going to be okay."

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Horn and his family cover expenses.


L.A. County Firefighters

Preliminary information from the Los Angeles County Fire Department indicates that three LACoFD members were struck by gunfire and sustained non-life threatening injuries. One of the injured is reportedly an ex-SCV firefighter. Due to privacy concerns, LACoFD is not releasing the names or assignments of the injured.


CRIME BLOTTER

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Rancho Camulos Foreman Hog-tied by Horse Thieves 1853

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Newhall Petroleum Co.: Oil Stock Fraud 1876

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3-Fingered Bob Slays Acton Rival 1889

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Death in Newhall Pass 1906

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Unruly Acton Boys 1909

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Aqueduct Worker Beaten, Robbed by Cohort 1910

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Trouble With Wobblies 1916

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$20 Fine for CCW 1921

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Piru Bank Robbery, Kidnapping 1922

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Manhunt 1924

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Rancher Wade Albert Horton Slain 1930

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Frances Walker Slaying 1935

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More: Frances Walker Slaying 1935

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German Enemy Aliens Arrested in Castaic, 12/8/1941

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Hart 'Aces' Gang Busted 1950

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KKK Rally 1966

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Alpha Beta 1983

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Las Vegas Shooting 2017

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