When the staccato sound of hundreds of rounds firing began, Nevada Army National Guard PVT Jacquelyn Trujillo ignored the comments of concertgoers around her who thought someone was shooting off fireworks or there was a problem with the speakers. Recognizing the sound of rifle fire, she quietly told her two younger sisters they would need to leave the outdoor concert.
“I didn’t want them to freak out or panic. We did it calmly,” she said. “As we were approaching the exit, that’s when everyone else started to realize that this wasn’t fireworks.”
Las Vegas Metro Police identified Stephen Paddock, as the man who opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Oct. 1, 2017, killing 58 and injuring hundreds at a country music festival before taking his own life. Among those killed was another Nevada Army National Guard Soldier, 1SG Charleston Hartfield, of the 100th Quartermaster Company (see article on page 4).
When the shooting started, PVT Trujillo saw people dropping to take cover, others falling from gunshot wounds or tripping and getting trampled. She and her sisters found safety behind a wall, where they met fellow concertgoer Tammy Dean.
“They saved me,” Dean told a KTNV-TV reporter. “[PVT Trujillo] really took care of those of us hiding behind the wall. She kept us calm [while we hid], and kept me from doing something stupid like going inside looking for family.”
PVT Trujillo credited her basic combat training as a Split Option Soldier at Fort Sill, Okla., for helping her lead others to safety.
“Probably what helped me to respond the best to what happened was being able to remain calm and recognize the noises [of rifle fire],” she said. “I remember hearing those sounds, or similar, when we had to low crawl or when we fired our weapons.”
PVT Trujillo, who graduated Aug. 18 from B Battery, 1st Battalion, 19th Field Artillery, returned for her senior year of high school in Las Vegas. She is now a member of D Company, 3rd Battalion, 140th Security and Support Aviation Regiment. Looking back on her training at Fort Sill, she thanked all the drill sergeants who helped teach her the skills of a Soldier, though she singled out one in particular.
“SGT Aubrey Lonsberry was my drill sergeant,” PVT Trujillo said. “It wasn’t one specific thing she said that helped me the most, but just everything she taught us about the type of Soldier you want to be – how to remain in control, how to stay calm and be Soldiers.”
SGT Lonsberry said Trujillo’s actions didn’t surprise her.
“PVT Trujillo consistently set herself apart from her fellow trainees by her high level of motivation and discipline,” SGT Lonsberry said. “She brought good energy to our formation day in and day out. Her service was special to her, and it was clearly important to her that she learn and execute warrior tasks and battle drills correctly.”
As people process the outcome of this horrific episode in their lives, Trujillo said some call her a hero for her actions that night. But she wants to be remembered in a different way: “I don’t feel like a hero. I just feel like an American Soldier.”
BY James Brabenec, Oklahoma National Guard
