Oral history interview with Emily Navarro Medoza conducted by Claytee D. White on August 5, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, Mendoza, a freshman at UNLV, recalls working a pre-final exam event in Pida Plaza that began at 11:00 on December 6, 2023. As the first popping sound was heard, students began running out of Beam Hall into the open plaza area where her event was in progress. Mendoza witnessed the arrival of police cars, and when she heard, "shooter," she ran to the microphone and announced, "active shooter" before she began to run with her colleagues. A large group of students ran between the Student Union and FDH, across the parking lot, onto Maryland Parkway where all cars stopped, and they assembled at the business area near the Chipotle Restaurant. Mendoza and about nine others ran toward Eastern and ended up at the Medical Center on the corner of Harmon and Eastern where they were given shelter and snacks. Her sister picked her up after maneuvering around all the street closures.The next morning, Mendoza recalls the Rebel Events staff greeting each other in Pida Plaza with hugs, securing their belongings, and cleaning up the plaza. They were heartbroken but could not allow the disrespect of their event, their campus, to be left in such chaos. They felt fearful being in the area, yet, they decided to finish this event as they always do: by leaving the space better than they had found it. Digital audio and transcript available.

Oral history interview with Mark Padoongpatt conducted by Claytee D. White on August 5, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, Padoongpatt recalls staying hunkered down for hours with his class in CBC-C that had been locked by building personnel. He recalls it was the last day of class, and food had been ordered for a celebration. As Padoongpatt and his students waited for the police, they formed a plan of action to execute if shooters came to their door. Finally the police arrived and escorted them out and had them go to the Thomas & Mack. Mark was relieved, cried, located his wife, and went home to his family. Padoongpatt concludes the interview discussing the many unanswered questions centering around race. All those murdered or injured were people of color. Padoongpatt voiced this truth when the administration was not allowed to. Digital audio and transcript available.

Oral history interview with Christine Salas conducted by Claytee D. White on July 30, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, Salas recalls what she witnessed on December 6 while working in the World Languages department in UNLV’s Beam Hall (BEH). After going to retrieve something left in the copy room, she heard three gunshots on the floor above her, footsteps running away from the shots, more footsteps, and someone yelling, "Active shooter!” The first text alerts came minutes later. She shut the door to the windowless copy room, texted her sister, let another faculty member in, and waited with them in what seemed like the longest hour of her life. They heard pounding on the doors and feeling someone trying to break in, but finally saw an arm of the police officer who had broken through, telling them to walk a certain way. Salas speaks fondly and shares memories of her murdered colleague, Professor Naoko Takemaru. Salas speaks to her lifelong love of soccer, her past trauma and a close friend's recent death and describes her sense of safety being ripped away, her confusion, therapy, and the healing process. Digital audio and transcript available.

Oral history interview with Kathy Windham conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on August 8, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, Windham, who is the office manager for UNLV’s World Languages department, recalls leading the office in preparing for the end of the semester on December 6. She describes hearing someone run the halls shouting “Active shooter!" so Windham immediately turned off her office lights and pulled her supervisor with her to hide under her desk. She texted her boyfriend, as the fire alarm started blaring, its horn just outside her office. She heard three or four gunshots and thought of Professor Naoko Takemaru, who always took her lunch at noon in the adjoining office. With her supervisor, she remained under the desk for about an hour until the police entered the office to escort them out. As a friend drove her home, she heard about the possible victims and she contacted everyone in the department; all eventually responded except Naoko. Windham had known Naoko since 2015. Windham sought therapy shortly after the shooting through the Las Vegas Resiliency Center and Victims of Crime and describes how the technique of forming "neutral sentences" during post-traumatic episodes continues to help. Digital audio and transcript available.

Oral history interview with David Schwartz conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on August 13, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, Schwartz, who works as UNLV’s Ombuds, recalls what he experienced in a nearby building on December 6, 2023. Schwartz works in a building diagonally across Pida Plaza and Beam Hall, where the shooting occurred. When Schwartz and his office manager heard shots, they executed their emergency plan they had designed. It worked perfectly, although Schwartz did not leave campus but remained to assist students in accessing the safest routes to their destinations and shared advice on how to connect with families and associates. Then he went to the university command center and then to the dormitory housing area and passed out pizza. He describes his goal for the day to be a stabilizing force and help to students, in the same way that he would have wanted someone to help his own children. Digital audio and transcript available.

Oral history interview with Derek Ellison conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on August 16, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, Ellison, a junior majoring in physics, shares how his father works in the Physics Department at UNLV so Derek knew the campus well even before he became a student. He describes how he was on the second floor of the Student Union, using the computer lab to write his final paper when the alerts began. Students in the lab, a glass-enclosed room, began to hide. He talked to his parents all the while thinking about his essay in the back of his mind. Because Beam Hall was so close, police came to the Student Union quickly and asked everyone to leave. Derek exited the building from the Maryland Parkway side and took refuge near the apartments to the south. Ellison's father picked him up and they went home. He recalls returning a few days later, seeing the memorial that had been erected, and reading the tributes honoring the three faculty members. He and his father discussed the racism aspects of the shooting since all those murdered were people of color. Digital audio and transcript available.

Oral history interview with Megan Griffard conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on August 22, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, Griffard, UNLV assistant professor in the educational policy and leadership program, describes taking her 18-month-old daughter to the UNLV/CSUN Preschool on the UNLV campus before going to her office. She initially planned to go to the Student Union, where her colleagues had prepared poster presentations when she received the first alert and hid under her desk. Her husband called to tell her he had been called to prepare for mass casualties at UMC and the freeway was closed. She texted her dad, her coworkers, and called the preschool while hiding under her desk. She describes trying to get to the Methodist Church across Maryland Parkway, the designated spot for the preschool parents to be transported to the preschool to pick up their children. When her turn finally came, she was driven to the school and passed through layers of security before she could retrieve her daughter. Her husband soon arrived and the family was eventually able to go home together. The next day, Griffard returned to campus with her colleague who had been in the Student Union. The following Monday, Griffard and her coworkers held a Zoom meeting to check in with each other and talk about their experiences. She talks about the importance of finding the right therapist, learning how to process painful events, and realizing how her recovery has helped her shut down a tendency to people-please. Digital audio and transcript available.