LAS VEGAS – As the Las Vegas massacre unfolded Sunday night, an off-duty Minneapolis police officer bravely guarded civilians in a bar near the Las Vegas strip, according to country music star John Rich who shared the story with Fox News.
Rich, from the country duo Big & Rich, had performed at the country music festival in Las Vegas less than two hours before the shooting occurred. After finishing their set, Big & Rich went over to Rich’s bar near the festival venue to interact with fans. It was there that they learned of an active shooter nearby.
“What they told us was they thought there were multiple active shooters and didn’t know where they were,” Rich said during an appearance on Fox News. “We got everybody away from the windows and tried to secure the location.”
As they tried to secure the bar, an off-duty Minneapolis police officer approached Rich and asked if he was armed.
“I had a Minneapolis police officer, off-duty, was in my bar hanging out. He came up to me and showed me his badge, and he says, ‘I’m officer – I forget his last name – and I’m an officer and I am not armed for the first time ever. I can’t believe it. Are you armed?’ I said yes sir, I am armed. I had my concealed weapons permit,” Rich told Fox News. He goes, ‘can I have your firearm so I can hold point on this front door?’ So I handed over my firearm to him, everybody got behind him, and for two hours without flinching this guy kept a point on that door just in case somebody came through.”
Watch Rich describe the brave actions of the Minneapolis police officer: