Family Of Las Vegas Shooting Victim: Outpouring Of Support 'Gives Us Hope'
TEWKSBURY (CBS) – The husband of a Tewksbury woman killed in the Las Vegas mass shooting said in a statement read by a family member that while her death was tragic, the outpouring of support from the community has been overwhelming.
Rhonda LeRocque, 42, was among those in the crowd of 22,000 people at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival when a gunman began firing from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel October 1.
Fifty-eight people were killed and hundreds more were wounded before police say the shooter took his own life.
LeRocque was at the concert with her husband Jason, their 6-year-old daughter, and her father-in-law for what Jason LeRocque described as "quality family time."
Rhonda was wounded early on in the shooting. She was loaded into a stranger's pickup truck and brought to an area hospital but did not survive.
"Thanks to the heroic efforts of a few individuals we could get her to the trauma center while still breathing," Jason LeRocque said in a statement Thursday.
"All of this of course is a blur to me. I wish I could remember the names or their faces so I could express my deepest gratitude for all of their efforts in trying to save her life."
The Tewksbury family was in Las Vegas to celebrate the LeRocques' 21st wedding anniversary.
Several online fundraising pages have resulted in thousands of dollars in donations.
"The outpouring of support has been so overwhelming to say the least. It gives us all so much hope to see the kindness of so many," said LeRocque.
Among the people Jason LeRocque praised was the pilot on their JetBlue flight home. When the plane landed in Boston, the pilot came out to speak to the family and got down on one knee to give his wings to Rhonda and Jason LeRocque's daughter.
A wake for LeRocque is scheduled for Friday afternoon in Wilmington. A public memorial will be held Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in the Tewksbury Memorial High School auditorium.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker reports
