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East Oregonian
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Saturday, August 25, 2018
Woman who survived Las Vegas shooting becomes officer
person for someone else in
that situation. When they’re
going through something
crappy or going through a
hard time, I want them to
see me and be like, ‘OK,
she’s going to fix it. She’s
going to make it better.’”
Card was attending the
concert with her mother,
Robin Baird of Eugene, and
Baird’s longtime boyfriend,
Kevin Lee, and his adult
daughter, Kaila Lee.
Baird spoke to The Reg-
ister-Guard four days after
the incident and described
how her family had escaped
when Stephen Paddock
opened fire from an upper-
story window of the Man-
dalay Bay hotel into the
concert crowd as country
singer Jason Aldean was
performing.
“We thought it sounded
like fireworks; like one
went off,” Baird said in the
interview. “And I was look-
ing for smoke or something,
but then all of a sudden, I
heard more shots, like a gun
going off.”
Baird and her family
started running, she said,
taking cover under their ris-
er-style VIP suite. Other
people soon joined them,
pushing and crawling their
way under as best as they
could.
The gunshots stopped for
a moment, and then started
By CHELSEA
DEFFENBACHER
The Register Guard
EUGENE, Ore. (AP)
— Ten months ago, Lau-
ren Card was running from
danger.
Now she’s ready to run
toward it, after taking an
oath to serve and protect
the residents of Springfield
as the newest member of its
police force.
Card, 23, was attending
the Route 91 Harvest Coun-
try Music Festival in Las
Vegas last October when
a gunman killed 58 people
and wounded more than 500
in the worst mass murder in
modern U.S. history.
Monday, Card was sworn
in as a Springfield police
officer, a career decision
that she said was inspired
by the shooting.
Card remembers run-
ning with the panicked
crowd during the “madness
and craziness” caused by
the shooting. But she also
recalls how she felt relief
when police officers arrived
and ran toward the chaos.
“And in that moment,
I kind of had a sense that,
‘OK, the police are here.
They are going to fix it.
They are going to make it
better. Everything is going
to be OK,’” she said earlier
this week. “I want to be that
Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard via AP
Springfield Police Officer Lauren Card poses for a pic-
ture, in Springfield. Card was sworn in as a Spring-
field Police officer 10 months after surviving the mass
shooting in Las Vegas in October 2017.
again. The bullets were ric-
ocheting off the metal struc-
tures around the stage.
“It felt like it was in the
venue, and it felt like it
was getting closer, so we
knew we needed to leave,”
she said. “We got out from
under the suite and just
started running. And we
kept going.”
Baird described how
her family climbed fences,
a 10-foot brick wall and
other obstacles to make
their way as far down the
Las Vegas strip as they
could. They were separated
briefly — Card with Baird
and the Lees together — but
reunited when they all took
cover in the MGM Grand
hotel. Since the Vegas air-
port was on lockdown, they
rented a car and drove to
Arizona to catch the next
flight home with noth-
ing but the clothes on their
backs.
“Our legs were cov-
ered in mud; we were in
dirty, filthy clothes,” Baird
said of arriving at the air-
port. “I was wearing a white
shirt, and the back was just
all nasty, from falling and
climbing. We were wear-
ing cowboy boots. I am sure
people were just thinking,
‘What the hell have these
people been doing?’ But I
didn’t care. We just needed
to go home.”
This
week,
Card’s
mother praised her daugh-
ter’s choice to take such a
SUNDAY
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Mostly sunny
Mostly sunny and
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72° 56°
TUESDAY
Sunny to partly
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WEDNESDAY
Pleasant with
plenty of sunshine
Sunny and
beautiful
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
75° 50°
83° 52°
88° 57°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
78° 55°
76° 56°
81° 50°
86° 53°
OREGON FORECAST
92° 57°
ALMANAC
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PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
64/57
73/47
76/48
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
76/57
Lewiston
68/58
79/57
Astoria
65/56
Pullman
Yakima 76/51
67/53
79/54
Portland
Hermiston
70/58
The Dalles 78/55
Salem
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73/53
Yesterday
Normals
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La Grande
77/48
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
76/54
75/43
79/48
Ontario
85/58
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86°
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101° (1970) 40° (2010)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
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Albany
75/54
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
82/53
0.00"
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6.65"
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84/56
79/36
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0.32"
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11.37"
8.27"
through 3 p.m. yest.
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LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 75/44
73/56
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
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Last year to date
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HERMISTON
Enterprise
76/54
74/58
74°
54°
85°
56°
105° (1898) 32° (1904)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
68/54
Aberdeen
72/49
75/56
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
68/56
Today
Sun.
WSW 6-12
W 6-12
WSW 8-16
WSW 10-20
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
79/41
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
6:08 a.m.
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Full
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Aug 26
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Sep 9
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NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 107° in Needles, Calif. Low 25° in Bodie State Park, Calif.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Judge dismisses marijuana
racketeering case in Oregon
SALEM (AP) — A federal judge has
dismissed a racketeering lawsuit filed
by Oregon landowners who claim their
neighbors are growing marijuana, caus-
ing them discomfort and reducing their
property values.
The Capital Press reported Wednes-
day that several property owners in Leba-
non filed a lawsuit last year accusing their
neighbors of growing marijuana in viola-
tion of the Racketeer Influence and Cor-
rupt Organization Act.
Defendants say they stopped growing
marijuana last October.
U.S. District Judge Michael McShane
ruled that the injuries alleged by the 10
plaintiffs including unpleasant noises,
foul odors and reduced property values
aren't the type that can be compensated
under the act.
He says they are allowed to refile their
complaint since the lawsuit has a consti-
tutional standing.
FBI arrests music ministry
leader on porn charges
EUGENE (AP) — The FBI and Eugene
police have arrested the music ministry
leader at Christ Fellowship Church on
federal child pornography charges.
Authorities said Friday that long-time
church member 38-year-old Edward Sam-
uel Thompson was arrested at his Eugene
home without incident and booked in a
Springfield jail.
His attorney, federal public defender
Mark Weintraub, did not immediately
return a call seeking comment Friday.
Court documents show that an FBI
agent tracked downloads of multiple por-
nographic videos featuring children as
young as 2 to Thompson's IP address.
During the execution of a search war-
rant, agents did not find the videos on
Thompson's computer but found evidence
that he had downloaded them.
Court documents say he admitted to
downloading and watching the videos and
then deleting them after several days.
More states take interest in
coal terminal legal fight
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— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211
333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211
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situations.
“She was asked how she
felt like that had impacted
her and how she might
respond if she found herself
in a similar circumstance,
because ... depending on the
person, that could be trau-
matic for a long time and
that could trigger post-trau-
matic stress,” McKee said.
Card replied that the
experience will help her
now that she’s a trained
police officer, he said. Card
said she already “knows
what it’s like to be shot at,”
and how she will respond
if she finds herself under
fire again, McKee said.
“I thought that was really
compelling.”
As a female in a
male-dominated
profes-
sion, Card is part of a small
minority on the Spring-
field police force. She is
one of three female offi-
cers in the department, after
two women recently retired,
out of 69 sworn officers. A
fourth female officer has
been hired but has yet to
begin work. Card will be
one of three working patrol
when the fourth is sworn in.
One of the females on the
force is a detective.
Card is a recent gradu-
ate of Oregon State Univer-
sity with a degree in kine-
siology, the study of body
movements.
BRIEFLY
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
bad experience and turn it
into something good.
“I am very proud of her
for becoming an officer and
wanting to serve the commu-
nity, especially after Route
91,” Baird said Wednes-
day. “She works really hard.
With her achievements and
strengths, I know she’ll be
very successful.”
Card said she returned to
college two days after the
shooting and tried to return
to her normal life.
“We all went through
our own thing in our own
way,” Card said. “At first I
was having trouble focus-
ing. I went through the ini-
tial shock stuff, like, ‘Holy
crap, what just happened?’
And it was hard for a while
just to mentally process it.”
She added that she came
to the realization, “Yeah,
it sucks that it happened.
My heart is with the fami-
lies that weren’t as fortu-
nate as ours. But we made
it out, and I don’t want this
to affect me in such a nega-
tive way and let it ruin my
life. I want to do something
with this, show that you can
move on, you’re strong.”
Springfield police Lt.
Scott McKee, who was
on the department’s hiring
committee, said the group
wondered how the shooting
would affect Card’s ability
to react in dangerous police
70s
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low
LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — Six
states have lined up in support of Wash-
ington state in a legal battle over its
decision to block a proposed coal-ex-
port terminal on the Columbia River.
The Daily News reports attorneys
general from California, Maryland,
New Jersey, New York, Massachu-
setts and Oregon filed a “friend-of-the-
court” brief this week arguing in sup-
port of Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration
in its defense against the federal law-
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suit brought by Utah-based Lighthouse
Resources.
Lighthouse
Resources
claimed
Washington state officials violated fed-
eral laws in denying approvals for the
Millennium Bulk Terminals project
— a proposed $680 million facility in
Longview, Washington, that would be
the largest coal shipping terminal in
North America.
Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota,
Utah, Kansas, Nebraska and Washing-
ton’s Cowlitz County have previously
filed amicus briefs in support of proj-
ect backers.
Wyoming man drowns
in Oregon canoe accident
BEND (AP) — An 84-year-old Wyo-
ming man drowned and his daughter, a
former Paralympic athlete, was injured
when their canoe capsized in Ore-
gon and they were swept over Class 5
rapids.
Deschutes County sheriff's Lt. Bryan
Husband told KTVZ-TV on Friday that
Ronald Stevens, of Jackson, Wyoming,
was pulled unconscious from the water
by kayakers.
Nancy Stevens, who is blind, was
also pulled from the Deschutes River
by kayakers and is hospitalized in good
condition.
The 54-year-old Nancy Stevens
competed 20 years ago as a cross-coun-
try skier in the Nagano, Japan Paralym-
pic Games.
The Bulletin reports that she was
also the first blind woman to scale the
13,770-foot Grand Teton and has been
a regular Pole Pedal Paddle competitor
since 2013.
The two were fly-fishing and were
both wearing life jackets.
Officials: Tossed cigarette
caused fire near Madras
MADRAS (AP) — Authorities say a
cigarette tossed out of a car traveling on
U.S. Highway 26 started a small blaze
south of Madras earlier this month.
Investigators don’t know who tossed
the cigarette that started the Aug. 17
fire but are reminding Oregonians to be
careful this fire season.
The wildfire started by the cigarette
was among more than 50 other blazes
started in Central Oregon by lightning
after a thunderstorm.
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