Finley Cotrone oral history interview, 2024 August 26

Oral history interview with Finley Cotrone conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on August 26, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, Cotrone, Associate Professor in Residence at UNLV's William F. Harrah College of Hospitality, describes how her students were giving their final presentations to Cotrone, Lateka Grays, and Vince Eade when the alarm sounded. They were in a second-floor classroom in Beam Hall (BEH). When the fire alarms sounded, most of Cotrone's students--thinking it was a fire--ran down the stars and out of the building. When Cotrone attempted to get a student who uses a wheelchair and her friend to an elevator, an officer pulled a gun on the group. The group went into a nearby kitchen, which had too many doors and lights they couldn’t turn off. When the group was finally released, security officers escorted them down the stairs to the front exit of BEH, where the group saw the deceased shooter before being ushered toward the Risk Management building. Cotrone returned the next day to retrieve her car, and used Zoom meetings to talk with her students about their experiences. She talks about how she has not sought therapy; but says she talks about the shooting openly to gain power over it. The interview concludes with political discussions about guns and racism. Digital audio and transcript available.