A critical care nurse found herself in the middle of a mass shooting at the weekend has been praised for her selfless actions.
Kayla Miller was out celebrating her friend’s 25th birthday at the Ned Peppers Bar Saturday night when gunfire rang out and bodies started dropping to the ground. Along with tens of other patrons, Miller frantically sought out a place of shelter. But as she ran, this compassionate nurse took in the scene around her, and the reality sunk in — there were people dying all around her.
“I look down the sidewalk and see just a row of bodies. People shot — some alive, some not,” the nurse told NBC’s “Today” show.
Immediately, her medical training kicked in. Disregarding concerns for her own safety, Miller stopped running from the frenzied gunman, threw herself to the ground began to administer emergency CPR. “It was pretty evident (it was gunshots) because everyone was just crawling to the back exit just fighting each other to get out of the bar,” the nurse explained. Tragically, none of the victims she treated survived.
“I’m grateful to be able to be alive and talk to my family and friends and tell them I’m OK, but my heart breaks for these families,” Miller said. “It’s just not fair.”
‘It could have been so much worse’
Nine people were shot dead and 27 others injured when the shooter opened fire on partygoers in Dayton’s Oregon District. It could have been much worse, however.
Surveillance footage of the incident showed the gunman, clad in body armor and a mask, chasing terrified partyers into the bar — but just as he is about to make it in through the door, police can be seen discharging their weapons and downing the gunman. The shooting lasted just 30 seconds due to the brave and professional actions of law enforcement.
“Had that individual made it through the doorway of Ned Peppers with that level of weaponry there would have been a catastrophic loss of life,” said Dayton’s police chief, Richard Biehl, according to The Telegraph.
It was a sentiment backed up by President Trump, who praised the police’s swift action to neutralize the gunman. “It could have been so much worse,” Trump added.
Republican Senator Rob Porter called the police’s actions “extraordinary.”
“They saved lives, probably hundreds of lives, given the situation,” he said.