Linda Cassese, daughter of the late Agnes Jean Larry DiLaura, Class of 1950, slept through the worse mass shooting in American history in her Las Vegas home.

Linda posted:

“Woke up this morning to texts asking if I was OK. I hadn't heard what happened. Turned on the news . . . worst mass shooting in U.S. history in Las Vegas! What a tragedy!”

More than 50 were killed and more than 400 wounded as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada fired his rifles at a sold-out, three-day Route 91 Harvest country music festival crowd of 30,000 gathered below his 32nd floor room on the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Paddock, who broke out the window in his room before beginning his massacre, shot himself in his Mandalay Bay hotel room, where he had been staying since Thursday, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said.

Police found a cache of 10 rifles in his room, Lombardo added.

Lombardo said at least 406 people were taken to hospitals after the massacre.

Country star Jason Aldean was singing on stage at the sold-out Route 91 Harvest festival on the Las Vegas Strip when a burst of semi-automatic gunfire erupted.

 

Not realizing what was happening, he tipped his hat and continued singing. Moments later, he ran off the stage, still holding his guitar.

"My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight," Aldean wrote on Instagram. "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night."

When I inquired about Linda’s safety, she replied:

“Thank you, John.

“I was not at the concert, but the event that took place last night has really shaken this town.

“Thank you for your concern. I will always remember you fondly through my Mother's eyes. It's been 2 years now that she's been gone. Miss her every day.

“You & Paula take care & safe journeys always.

“Hugs, Linda”

The former Powers model, who went by Agnes Larry when she graduated from Monongah High in 1950, lived in Henderson, Nevada, a Las Vegas suburb, with her daughter, Linda, till her passing. She went by Jean, her middle name, in later years.

Agnes Jean was a majorette at Monongah High and ran her own building cleaning business in Michigan for decades before moving West to be with her daughter.

It’s no wonder I had a secret crush on Agnes at Monongah High and left a box of chocolates on our homeroom teacher’s desk for Valentine’s Day with her name on it, but not mine.

A year before she passed, to “recreate” that childhood moment, I sent Agnes Jean another box of chocolates to her Vegas suburb home. She loved them! And the memories it revived.

I still remember dancing with Agnes Jean on the Monongah High gym floor, the “bandbox” that drove Lions’ basketball opponents crazy over its too-low ceiling to arch shots properly.

Agnes Jean also has a son who is a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic and another in real estate in Nevada. She has four grandchildren.

Agnes Jean and Gloria Larry Boehm, Class of 1959, were sisters who grew up in Carolina. Gloria lives in Pennsylvania.