Las Vegas goes dark to honor 58 people killed a year ago in mass shooting

LAS VEGAS (KABC) -- Las Vegas, a city known for its bright lights, energy and excitement, took a moment to go dark Monday night in remembrance of the 58 people who lost their live one year ago.

At 10:05 p.m., Vegas stopped the busy scene, lit some candles and recognized something important. It was one of many things to mark the anniversary.

Last year, Vegas experienced its darkest day, when without warning a gunman scarred the electric town with an incomprehensible tragedy.

"What they do understand is how resilient and tough and strong the city of Las Vegas is, and that's why Gabby and I wanted to be here today," astronaut Mark Kelly said.

During one of several vigils, Kelly addressed an enormous crowd at the healing garden. By his side was his wife and former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who is also a victim of gun violence.

"I love the garden. We came back right after it happened, I think just before the memorial got taken down, and we saw this for the first time. It was just little trees and we painted rocks and we painted tiles. It just felt good to be here," Kelly Crane said.

Crane is a survivor from Southern California. She and her friends escaped the chaos together. Their trip to the garden a year later is for those who could not.

"It's absolutely beautiful. It's a place where all the survivors, all the families, all the people of the city of Las Vegas - it's just a very serene place to come and remember the ones that we lost," Jane Matusz said.

While the garden was comforting, it was still impossible to hide the pain.

"I can't help but say I'm super pissed that we're back here for this. We should be back here for something else and that makes me mad. But there's so much love in our community and it's what holds us up a lot," Krista Middlekauff said.

The women said they attended the Route 91 festival for the last five years. It was their favorite event to do together, and now they've lost it.

They did say they will still continue to come to support Las Vegas, but will always remember the sadness that happened one year ago.