In 2017, Christopher and George Cook were in Las Vegas during the Route 91 Harvest festival, when a gunman fired into the crowd killing 58 and injuring more than 500. They managed to escape with no injuries, and so did Alicia Olive…who they didn’t know at the time would became one of their greatest friends and accompany them during a second mass shooting in the same year.
The brothers and Olive attended the Gilroy Garlic Festival last week when a gunman opened fire, killing three people and injuring 12. Although the trio left physically unharmed, Christopher told CNN mentally he’s been dealing with a wave of emotions. “You think you’re grateful for everything you have until something like this happens,” he said.
George told CNN the two experiences were very different for him. “It wasn’t even a thought at all,” he said. “This was a family thing,” George said he felt like a target in the Vegas shooting, but in Gilroy, he didn’t have that same feeling, possibly because he’s been to many festivals since Las Vegas. “Time heals all,” he said. “I’m not gonna change what I do or how I enjoy myself.”
Olive, a Vegas native, shared after surviving the mass shooting, she fell into a deep depression. “You don’t want to leave the house much…there’s no desire to,” she said. She moved from Vegas to California in April, and now, she feels she‘s been able to start living again.
Olive said the Garlic Festival was the first time she had been able to really let her guard down and go out to a public event since Route 91. She said, “I don’t know how it’ll be when I go out [now]. But I know I feel a lot of the same things as I did when Vegas happened.”
George and Chris Cook met Alicia Olive through a survivor support group on Facebook because they shared a common experience. Since then, their relationship has quickly grown from strangers to family. “My brother and I have never had sisters, but Alicia has made such an impact on our lives,” Christopher said.
Olive said now she’s gonna focus on making a difference and supporting other survivors who need it, whether through a hug, a conversation or advocating for stricter gun laws. “There’s a reason why I’m still here today, ” she said. “There’s a reason.”
Have them let me know where they are going before they go.