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.

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 Risa Frederico 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, Federico, who works for OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) and for Brain Health in the sciences corridor of campus. She describes being on the Paradise campus at the corner of Paradise and Tropicana on December 6, 2023. Federico and her colleagues stayed in place while others ran from one building to another checking on everyone. As official campus notifications changed and lessened, they vacated the campus and went home to loved ones. However, Federico made sure to be the last one out of her building, ensuring the well being of each person as they departed. During the lockdown period, Federico called and texted family members and friends to keep them informed of her safety. After the incident ended, she emphasized the importance of the campus memorial service. She believed that it was good to see everyone gathered in one space mourning the ones who were no longer in the number. 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 [Anonymous Narrator] conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on August 30, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, [Anonymous] describes celebrating the end of the semester with their class that met on the second floor of Beam Hall. As alarms started to ring--but before any text alerts had been sent--they told their students to run out of the building and led them out the door. Not knowing the building very well, the narrator describes opening an unfamiliar door that led to an exit on the Maryland Parkway side of the building, facing the Student Union and Greenspun Hall. As the group exited, there were people sitting at outside tables and so the narrator screamed "Run! Run!" to the crowd. [Anonymous] ran across Tropicana to the Vons grocery store on Maryland Parkway and hid behind the building. They sought therapy two days later, and found the “Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing” (EMDR) technique especially helpful, and recently made the decision to change careers. Digital 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 Francis Anisco 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, Anisco shares his experience on December 6, and how he graduated from UNLV Lee School of Business as an Accounting major on December 19, 2023, less than two weeks after the shooting. He describes preparing for the end of the semester on the first floor of Beam Hall while wearing headphones, when he thought he heard gunshots, and saw people running. He gathered his belongings and ran out toward Hospitality Hall and started texting his friends and turned to run toward Tonopah Hall when he heard a volley of gunshots. When he reached his car, he called his dad and drove home. He talks about his professors, Dr. Patricia Navarro Velez and Dr. Jerry Chang, and the accounting graduate students who were on the fourth floor that day. Anisco shares he has sought therapy and recalls the breathing techniques that helped him process the trauma of his department coming under attack. Digital audio available.