Documentary Film Explores 2017 Las Vegas Mass Shooting

Documentary¹ Film Explores 2017 Las Vegas Mass Shooting

A new documentary series examines the worst mass shooting in American history through witness reports, videos and other material.

11 Minutes is a telling of the 2017 massacre² at a country music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, and how it affected³ people who were there. The film is more than three hours long and appearing in four parts on the Paramount+ streaming service.

"I've never felt more useful or more like the universe put me exactly where I was supposed to be," said Ashley Hoff, a survivor⁴ of the attack and lead producer of 11 Minutes.

She was at the outdoor show on October 1, 2017, with her husband Shaun. They were watching Jason Aldean perform when they heard gunfire. They first thought it was fireworks.

But then, Hoff saw a bullet⁵ hit another concertgoer in the face. She and Shaun began running, dropping to the ground whenever they heard gunshots.

At one point, Hoff kicked off her cowboy boots so she could run faster. She and Shaun escaped to safety. The shooter, from high up in a hotel, killed 60 people and hurt more than 850 others.

Nine months later, an FBI agent was at Hoff's door with her boots — part of a little-known team that returns property left behind in such incidents. Hoff, who was already in the film business, thought the property return was an interesting subject. But she soon expanded on the idea.

Many survivors⁶, like herself, were unhappy with media coverage⁷ of the shooting. They said they thought it was too concerned with the gunman instead of the victims.

"We all went back to our corners to suffer in silence," she said.

The film describes the event with cellphone and police body camera recordings⁸. The cooperation of Las Vegas police was important to the production. The police provided⁹ video that shows medical teams racing¹⁰ to get injured people to hospitals. The film also includes video of special police bursting into the room where the gunman had barricaded¹², and then shot, himself.

The film presents the experiences of others at the event, including Jonathan Smith and Natalie Grumet. Both were seriously wounded in the attack.

"Is it easy to watch? No, but it shouldn't be easy to watch," said SiriusXM host Storme Warren, who was onstage in Las Vegas that night. "I don't know why you would tell the story if it were easy to watch."

Warren did not immediately agree to be part of the film. He was dealing¹³ with post-traumatic stress disorder¹⁴ (PTSD) as a result of the attack. He also was not pleased with past media coverage on the attack.

Hoff believes that her own experience that night, even though it is not included in the film, helped persuade some of those involved to talk.

After the shooting stopped, police talked of hearing the rings of cellphones, unanswered, as they walked among bodies still on the ground.

Along with concertgoers, 11 Minutes looks at the effects the violence had on emergency workers. "I was a very angry man. Very angry," paramedic operations chief Brian Rogers, said in the film.

Part four of 11 Minutes begins at daybreak, October 2, 2017. It centers on some of the lasting¹⁵ ties made among survivors and rescuers.

It is Hoff's favorite part of the series. "I do like to encourage people that there is goodness¹⁶ in the end, so hang in for that," she said.

"There are extraordinary acts of courage and human beings helping¹⁷ human beings," said Susan Zirinsky, chief of the See It Now Studios production company. "They're just regular people. In the darkest hours, people found each other."

Zirinsky, a former CBS News president, produced the critically praised documentary 9/11 about the 2001 terrorist¹⁸ attack in America. She considers 11 Minutes the most powerful film she's worked on since.

The gunman, who was dead when police reached him, was 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada. But, the filmmakers purposely did not identify him by name. Days before the shooting, Paddock had searched the internet for information on how to become a social media star.

Hoff did not want to give the killer¹⁹ any publicity²⁰.

The film ends by recognizing the names of victims of every mass shooting in the United States since the attack in Las Vegas.

"I don't call it a political statement," Zirinsky said. "I call it a statement of reality."

Both Hoff and her husband escaped the show without any gunshot wounds. Hoff had broken her arm when she fell while running. That is when she left her boots behind.

She did not notice her injury, however, until they reached safety.

Hoff hopes the film shows the depth of damage caused by mass shootings.

"We need to stop turning away, and we need to understand what going through this was like," she said. "It changes a person forever."

Words in This Story

documentary – n. a movie or television program that tells about real people or events

massacre –n. the violent killing²¹ of many people

barricade¹¹ –v. to block or prevent others from entering a place

paramedic –n. a person whose job is to provide emergency medical care to people who are being taken to the hospital

regular –adj. normal or usual

encourage –v. to make people more hopeful

1 documentary   

adj.文献的；n.纪录片

参考例句：

• This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
• I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。

2 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

5 bullet   

n.枪弹，子弹

参考例句：

• The bullet wound in his shoulder was opened up for treatment.切开他肩上的枪伤进行治疗。
• The bullet missed me by a hair's s breadth.那颗子弹差一点就打中了我。

6 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

7 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

8 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

9 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

10 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

11 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

12 barricaded   

设路障于，以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 )； 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守

参考例句：

• The police barricaded the entrance. 警方在入口处设置了路障。
• The doors had been barricaded. 门都被堵住了。

13 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

14 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

15 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

16 goodness   

n.善良，善行，美德

参考例句：

• Would you have the goodness to turn off the radio?劳驾，请你把收音机关上好不好？
• Thank goodness,we've found a cure for the disease.好了，这病有救了！

17 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

18 terrorist   

n.恐怖主义者，恐怖分子

参考例句：

• Without the gun,I'm a sitting duck for any terrorist.没有这支枪，我就成了恐怖分子下手的目标了。
• The district was put on red alert during a terrorist's bomb scare.这个地区在得到恐怖分子炸弹恐吓后作了应急准备。

19 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

20 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

21 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。