British soldiers instinctively ‘went into action’ to save Las Vegas victims
HERO British soldiers yesterday told how they “went into action” to save victims of the Las Vegas massacre.
Six off-duty troops from the Queen’s Dragoon Guards were at a bar near the music festival that Stephen Paddock, 64, fired on from a hotel room on Sunday night.
The men — including Troopers Dean Priestley, 28, Ross Woodward, 23, and James Astbury, 22 — risked their own safety to give first aid.
Dean, from Kinmel Bay, North Wales, said: “You’ve got the background, the training, so why wouldn’t you?”
Ross, from Nottingham, added: “The training just kicked in and we went into action.”
His younger brother Curtis Dyer, 22, said the actions reflected the character of his sibling, who is originally from Nottinghamshire, and had been training in the US with the British Army.
Mr Dyer told the Press Association: "He is the type of the person who would do it anyway, he's always there to help people when they need his help.
"The Army always brought out the best in him. He's caring, he loves his job, he's quite family-orientated.
"He just looks forward to going away with the army, he looks forward to the free time afterwards, as you can imagine the Army work their balls off to protect us. It's just like it happened by fate."
Commanding officer Major Ben Parkyn said he was extremely proud of their selfless actions.
Mr Dyer, said his brother's composure in the face of the atrocity, which killed at least 59 people in the deadliest mass shooting in US history, filled him with pride.
"I'm dead proud of what he's done, that he was able to do it," Mr Dyer said. "At least when it came to something like that he was there to help.
"Britain's keeping America safe more than anything else over there."
The Ministry of Defence confirmed the three troopers, who are trained to treat battlefield wounds, provided first aid and medical assistance to victims until the emergency services arrived.
It comes as a fast-acting an Iraq war veteran saved as many as 30 victims in the Las Vegas massacre by driving them to the hospital in a pickup truck he’d stolen to take them there.
Taylor Winston, 29, credits his military background with helping terrified concertgoers Sunday night at the Route 91 Harvest festival climb over a fence to safety.
After finding keys inside a white Chevrolet Silverado parked in a lot, he piled some of the wounded concertgoers into the truck and sped to Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center about five miles away.
“I started looking for people to take to the hospital,” Winston told “There was just too many and it was overwhelming how much blood was everywhere.”
Winston — who joined the Marines when he was 17 and served two tours in Iraq — was drinking and dancing with pals and his girlfriend Jenn Lewis when shots suddenly rang out.
“People started scattering and screaming and that’s when we knew something real was happening,” Winston said. “The shots got louder and louder, closer to us and saw people getting hit, it was like we could be hit at any second.
“Once we got to the fence, I helped throw a bunch of people over, and got myself over. It was a mini war zone but we couldn’t fight back.”
Winston, who was honorably discharged in 2011 as a sergeant, estimated he probably transported “20 to 30 people” to the hospital that night.
“Once we dropped them off, we were like well, let’s go back for round two and go get some more,” he said. “I think a lot of my training in the military helped me in the situation."
“We needed to get them out of there regardless of our safety.”
Winston, who returned the truck’s keys to the owner Monday night, said he doesn’t want to be hailed as a hero for doing the right thing.
“There was a lot of bravery and courageous people out there,” he said. “I’m glad that I could call them my countryfolk.”
A gunman, named as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, opened fire on country music fans from his hotel room on the 32nd floor at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas.
He was a retired accountant who flew small planes and had no criminal record, authorities said.
It's still not clear why he carried out the attack, but police say he had placed surveillance cameras inside and outside the hotel room from where he launched his attack.
Chilling pics have emerged showing his body surrounded by bullet shells and guns after he shot himself before cops could stop his slaughter.
Las Vegas police suggested last night his girlfriend Marilou Danley a “person of interest” in the case.
Danley who had been in the Philippines, was flown back to the United States in the early hours of this morning and will be questioned by police.
Despite naming her as a person of interest, cops appear to have cleared her of any involvement in the massacre, saying Paddock acted alone.
It emerged he had wired £75,000 to the Philippines, Danley’s home country, the week before his spree.
