Ace Lagman oral history interview, 2024 July 29

Oral history interview with Ace Lagman conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on July 29, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, Lagman (a senior, English major, Creative Writing emphasis) recalls having just left Lied Library with friends when he received the text alert about the shooting. After a short debate, the group decided to head for their cars in the Cottage Grove parking lot. On the way, Lagman stopped to warn some construction workers at the Engineering building, even using Google Translate to communicate the alert to one worker. One friend drove Lagman to his apartment, leaving Cottage Grove and taking Flamingo Road East to Eastern, as they knew Tropicana would be closed. He talks about reaching out to friends, and how two friends especially helped him in the days after. He recalls a two-hour drive beginning at 2:00am, windows down, listening to music, while driving aimlessly in places where businesses were open and people were about. The creative writer talks of being unable to write anything in the first five months after the shooting; he still has not written about the event or his reaction to it. He remembers calling the Suicide Hotline two weeks after December 6 and the worker telling him he was their tenth call that day. Digital audio and transcript available.