Jake Owen Remembers Route 91 Shooting Victims: ‘You Will Always Be in My Heart and on My Mind’
One year after the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas, Nev. on Oct. 1, 2017, country star Jake Owen marked the tragedy with a heartfelt message to the victims as well as his memory of the evening of music and celebration that was cut short when a gunman opened fire on the crowd from a nearby hotel window. "A year ago today people were loving life," the singer said in a tweet on Monday (Oct. 1). "They were singing along. Families and friends."
Owen performed at the festival before the shooting, and when gunfire broke out, he had walked back toward the stage with fellow performer Luke Combs and was watching Jason Aldean's headlining set. The singer was among the first to tweet from the festival that night, saying "Gun shots!!! Vegas. Pray to God. Love you guys. Love you Pearl."
In the days following the massacre, Owen told CBS that he didn't want fear over such an event to become a driving force in his life or the lives of country music artists and fans. "I think it's our duty as entertainers out here in the world to stand up [to] this sort of thing" he explained. "They can't keep us down. We're not going to live in fear, not going to continue to do this, because I think a big part of being entertainers is bring happiness to people."
Along with sharing his own memories of the evening Owen took a moment to remember those who lost their lives and those who were and continued to be affected by the tragedy. "58 lives were lost and thousands were injured and lives changed forever," he writes. "You will always be in my heart and on my mind."
Remembering the Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting Victims