TULSA - After the Las Vegas shooting shook the nation, those lucky enough to walk away started to make their way home.
“We were just watching Jason Aldean perform, he was about three songs in and we thought we heard firecrackers," said Tulsa resident Sherry Hale.
It was quick, and for her, petrifying.
“We realized what was going on and we ran, and it started again, so we hit the ground.”
She and her husband on a weekend vacation they'd won from a Tulsa radio station, until the vacation became a nightmare.
“We could see bullets skipping across the asphalt going by us.”
People hit by bullets around them, bodies lying in the street.
“For something that lasted only 10 to 15 minutes it seemed like forever," said her husband Robert Hale.
He was only worried about one thing.
“I wanted to get her out of harm’s way."
Lost in the crowd they ran, then took cover every time shots rang out again.
“There were times last night I didn’t think we were going to go [home]," Robert said.
Sherry, moved by the words a father told his young son in the midst of terror.
“And he said it’s ok, God’s got us. God’s got us in his hands.”
And Monday night at 7 p.m. sharp, their kids got them from Tulsa International Airport and refused to let go.
“I’m home. And they’re here. I’m home," Robert cried.
And he's home with a message.
“We were held hostage in our own country. All night. Never again. Never again that’s going to happen to me.”
The Hales said it'll be a while before they go back to Las Vegas, if they ever go again.
All five KVOO radio contest winners that attended the concert are safe tonight.
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