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House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy releases statement following LV attack

Posted at 9:18 AM, Oct 02, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-03 13:44:47-04

UPDATE (Oct. 3 10:40 a.m.): Congressman McCarthy spoke out on Tuesday in wake of the shooting in Vegas that took the lives of dozens of people and injured hundreds.

He is scheduled to visit Las Vegas on Wednesday with President Donald Trump.

“Everyone felt that loss…three of my constituents lost their lives [yesterday]. There are others in the hospital. Bailey Schweitzer was a 20-year-old girl who just attended Centennial High School. She’s a big country music fan. Her family owns the Bakersfield Speedway. She was there with her mother and friends. She was one of the best friends to my district director’s daughter…Jack Beaton–is a father of two and he was celebrating his 23rd wedding anniversary with his wife. When the shots rang out, he jumped in front of his wife and he gave the ultimate sacrifice for the one he loved. Victor Link is 55 years old and was born in Shafter. His family still lives there.

Inside the hospital, is an off-duty Bakersfield police officer. Officer Aaron Mundhenke had hip surgery yesterday and they say he will make a good recovery. I have another young lady that is in the ICU…I will travel with the president tomorrow to Las Vegas. I know in these horrific crimes, these individuals, when they try to divide our nation, it’s really a time that we have to heal. It’s really a time to find what divides us to put aside. I know what these families are going to go through, and we need to be there for them. We need to find that we are stronger, and we cannot allow this terror to win.”

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House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy released a statement on his website following the shooting in a concert in Las Vegas on Sunday night.

“Our nation woke up this morning to tragedy on an unimaginable scale. These are times when we turn to God trying to understand how such inhuman acts can happen. Our nation prays for those who died and for those still fighting to live. Las Vegas is a place that people from around the country and the world go to visit. Communities across America will feel the pain of this violence personally—including my home town of Bakersfield, as several off-duty police officers attended the concert, one of whom was wounded. We are so thankful for the bravery of the first responders and average citizens who put themselves in danger to care for and protect others. May God bless us all as we mourn and search for healing.”