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Golden 1 CenterSacramento, CA
October 25, 2024
For approximately 75 terrifying minutes, we thought we were in the middle of a mass shooting event. Below is our story leading up to the event, what we saw and our actions during the chaos, and the immediate aftermath.
Egypt and I attended a Rod Wave concert in Oakland, CA in November 2023 without any serious incidents. We were briefly separated in the crowd as we were leaving the arena, but quickly reunited in the parking lot. It was a school night and Egypt promised to get up and be at school on time the following morning. We got home around 3:30am and Egypt took care of her business and was up and out by 8am fulfilling her promise.
Therefore, I had zero concerns when she asked if I could take her to a recently announced Rod Wave concert in Sacramento. I was thrilled to see it was a Friday evening show.
I selected tickets when they went on sale. Egypt looked forward to seeing one of her favorite artists and I was looking forward to spending an evening with my daughter.
Egypt is 15-years-old and I'm well aware that our nights out together are extremely limited and I cherish every one. Even though I know we won't have too many more as she matures and drives herself and does these things with friends, boyfriends, etc., I never once thought October 25, 2024 could be our last together.
Egypt had a regular school day followed by a water polo party. She had to leave a little early to go home and get ready for the show. The doors opened at 6pm at the Golden 1 Center and our plan was to leave our house around 6pm for the 30 minute drive. I had paid in advance for parking across the street from the arena.
Egypt continued with her make-up and perfume in the truck during our ride and asked about dinner. I figured we would park, walk in the arena, maybe use the restrooms, grab some food, and find our seats without missing a beat.
We got the last spot in the garage and after a last look in the mirror, we started to walk to the show. As we exited the garage just before 7pm, I was surprised by how many people were crowded outside the arena.
We found the end of what looked like a line and it wrapped entirely around the arena in both directions. All the entrances to the Golden 1 Center are on one side and it was opposite of where we were lined up. The line barely moved and we would take a few steps at a time. By 8:50pm, we were still outside and maybe 75 feet from the common area outside the arena doors.
At first everyone thought the line was moving as concert goers were being let inside. I knew this wasn't happening because we passed the VIP entrance that we use when we bring Kellisa in her wheelchair. Egypt recognized the entrance and even said, "I wish we had Kellisa with us."
I responded, "it doesn't matter because those doors are still closed and have their own line outside."
I realized the line was only moving because people were leaving the line to crowd the common area.
It was around this time when we started hearing music coming from the venue. It was the typical wall thumping bass and Egypt along with everyone else recognized it as Rod Wave.
I had known for awhile that something was wrong because we shouldn't still be outside standing for 2 hours especially since the doors were supposed to be open for three hours. The crowd was incredibly patient and everyone was excited, but I was feeling a certain vibe change in the air.
I also knew there would be a curfew on the event, probably 11:30pm or maybe midnight. Even if they opened the doors, it would take at least an hour to get the majority of the crowd inside. In my mind, there wasn't enough time for the concert.
I almost texted my fears to Lisa as I stood there considering my options. I was worried about rioting and looting if the crowd turned. We were maybe two blocks from our truck.
My plan was to keep Egypt along the wall while we would rush our way back to the truck. I figured I would never let her go and hope to flee to safety at the very first sign of trouble.
As these thoughts were racing through my head, I heard a series of pops.
The commons area where thousands of people gathered (it was a sellout crowd of >19,000) is around the corner indicated by the yellow arrow above. Egypt and I were standing at the red star, maybe 50-75 feet from the corner.
Before I could register a single thought about the pops, a swarm of people came rushing from around that corner in a wave (no pun intended) like a tornado. I can't even describe what it looked or sounded like accurately.
It was like slow motion and warp speed at the same time. People were screaming everything from "he's got a gun" to "shots fired" to "take cover."
I grabbed Egypt and started to run away with the crowd. I wanted to keep her away from the now street wide width of humanity running for their lives. We came to a small indent in the building and there were a few people already diving for cover in this area.
I made the split second decision to push Egypt into this opening to get her away from the rushing crowd and hopefully line of any fire. The area we took refuge in is indicated by the blue box above.
At first, Egypt was on her knees and I was standing over her and more people started filling in our little area as most kept running by screaming.
Then we heard another series of pops. They sounded close and this is when it got real that I thought we could die.
I pushed Egypt down and covered her the best I could. A lady started praying out loud, and our group grew to at least 5 or 6 people high and at least as many deep in a giant pile of bodies. Egypt was at the bottom and back and I think she was about as safe as possible all things considered.
I knew my right leg was caught behind me at a weird angle and I couldn't move it at all, but I was just trying to keep Egypt covered as best as I could.
While not an expert, it didn't sound like fireworks and it wasn't a pop-pop-pop, etc. like a roll of firecrackers. It was one pop, as series of pops, one or two followed by a longer series.
At one point, I got a glimpse out to the street where thousands of people had run by and people were laying down and shoes, purses, clothes, everything were spread out. I couldn't tell if they were shot or just getting low.
I could hear sirens, cars racing away and their horns, and an eerie quiet from the thousands of people. I remember thinking, the area had tons of cops for security in the area and whoever was doing the shooting had to be neutralized by now.
In this silence, our rugby scrim of people started to get up and run with others. Since we were among the first to dive into this area, we were some of the last to get up. We were now fully exposed and I never felt so vulnerable.
Across the street was a parking garage with an entrance directly opposite from us. I made another decision to run into the garage thinking the cover of the concrete was worth the risk of crossing the street instead of running away with the masses down the street.
Here's a video I found online taken from directly above where Egypt and I were hunkered down. You can see the garage entrance we ran through. My guess is this video was taken of the 3rd or 4th swarm of people in between the pops. It is definitely not the first or second wave. Egypt and I would have just ran into the garage or were about to make our run.
We weren't alone taking cover in the garage when another series of pops started and a new swarm ran into the garage and out a side entrance. I was thinking they were being chased and we decided to run with them and I looked for placed to take cover.
Nothing looked safe and a building a block away looked open but as we approached the guards were locking the doors and pulling down a security door.
A nearby cement fountain looked promising as it was empty and people were hiding there. We joined them for maybe a minute when another swam of people came running and screaming from the opposite direction. I suddenly felt too exposed and we continued our run away from the arena.
The farther we got, the crowds thinned. We tried to catch our breath at one point and we could see and hear police, fire, and ambulances headed towards the arena. We could also see a police helicopter circling over the Golden 1 Center announcing the area was closed and to leave the area.
I was worried that Lisa would hear something and be worried, so we called her to tell her we were OK. We were still thinking it was a mass shooting incident.
We zigged and zagged for a few blocks and we found ourselves on a very seedy block with some kind of "hotel" that had people who looked like zombies wandering around the sidewalk in a complete daze. They had no life in their faces. We made our way, thankfully without incident, through approximately 20 of these living dead humans.
A calm seemed to take over the area and I had no idea where we were, so I thought maybe we could get back to our truck. Surely, any threat had to be neutralized and wandering around these streets with Egypt was filled with other risks at 10pm on a dark Friday evening.
The GPS was taking us in circles and I still had no idea where we were or where we needed to go. My guess is GPS was down because of so many using it in a small area during an emergency. I don't know.
As we were wandering around, we came to a hotel with a valet outside and it looked very nice. The valet seemed to have no idea what was going down at the arena, so I thought we were far enough away to finally be safe.
My last decision was to get a room where I knew we would be safe for the night. Thankfully, they had a room with two beds and Egypt realized it was a fancy Marriott property. I gave them my Titanium Elite Membership Number and they took great care of us.
Egypt saw some pink juice on a table and asked if it was alcoholic and when it wasn't, se got me a glass before she got her own. Grapefruit water never tasted so good. We were so tired, out of breath, and dehydrated, we both drank at least a quart. The lady at the counter gave us each two bottles of water and told us we had an hour to order room service.
Once in our room, we called Lisa and told her we were safe for the night because we were hunkering down for the night. I wasn't hungry, but Egypt was very pleased with her order of chicken tenders.
We both did some internet searches and they were saying it was fireworks that caused the chaos and not gunfire. It didn't make sense, but we were both exhausted and fell asleep quickly and slept for almost 12 hours.
By sleeping late, we missed breakfast at the hotel. I was worried about our truck being towed away and decided we should find it and head home.
As we left the hotel, I put in the parking garage address into GPS and started to follow the directions. It wasn't taking us to our garage or even in circles, it was actually taking us away from the garage.
I asked a few people for directions, but no one was any help. I decided to pull up a map on my phone and decided to use old fashion direction skills to figure out how to find our truck. It still took us about 35 minutes of additional walking, but we were both relieved that it was right where we left it.
I was also glad to see no boots on the passenger side. I was thinking the worst. As I rounded the truck, no boots on the driver's side and a quick glance of the front window didn't reveal a ticket. However, as I climbed in, I saw the ticket pushed all the way down. I opened it and it was only $75 for exceeding what I paid for. Seemed fair. I guess.
GPS still didn't work, but we eventually found an expressway and I was able to get us back towards home. Egypt was ready for some food and we stopped to pick up lunch. We grabbed some chicken and brought some home for Kellisa and Lisa.
Like the night before at the hotel, I wasn't hungry and passed on food.
As soon as we walked through our front door and I heard Lisa greet Egypt, I immediately felt a huge weight lifted. I delivered Egypt back home....safe and in one piece!
I also got my appetite back after not eating for almost 24 hours and quickly regretted not getting a chicken sandwich with some fries.
It's been almost 48 hours since the chaos began as I write this post and I have more questions than answers about what really happened.
It's clear it wasn't a mass shooting, but most everything else is still unknown.
The concert was officially canceled sometime after 9pm due to a disturbance outside the arena.
I do not believe anyone was inside the arena more than 3 hours after the doors were supposed to open. Something was delaying the opening of the doors.
There's reports that people grew restless and started storming the arena shortly before the "fireworks" started causing most of the crowd to run away from the Golden 1 Center.
By the next morning, they were sticking to the disturbance being the issue and no mention of why the delayed opening of the doors. The concert was also rescheduled for Saturday night.
I wasn't sure if I was willing to take Egypt back, especially with the lack of news and accountability. Plus, we learned two other Rod Wave concerts earlier in the week were also postponed.
As Saturday progress towards the evening, there was still a lack of official information and very few videos were posting online.
Around 4pm, I got an official email from Ticketmaster that the concert was postponed indefinitely and my tickets would be honored at the future make up date. I was glad to kick the decision of going down the road a little.
After reading and watching everything available to this point and I stress it is surprisingly limited, here's what I know and think what might have happened. It's only speculation.
I think the show was delayed and a sound check was performed just before 9pm creating the music we heard from the arena. Those closer to the doors lost their patience and attempted to gain entry to the arena fearing they were missing the concert even though the arena was still empty.
The crowd outside the doors just before 9pm:
My continued guess that makes sense to me is security and/or the police started setting off flash bangs to disperse the crowd away from the arena.
I could be completely wrong and we may never know for sure, but for those 75 or so minutes, we fully believed we were in the middle of a mass shooting and the fear and emotions still don't seem real. It will take some time to process the events and hopefully we will learn more about what lead up to the chaos.
I will close with a few additional comments. First, Egypt was amazing! She did everything I asked without hesitation and stayed calm during the entire event. She knew it was serious, but never panicked. I am so proud of her.
Egypt told me, "You know I could have out ran you, but I didn't want to leave you behind."
A little funny now, but honest and true. If I thought she would have been safer by running ahead, I would have sent her, but I think staying together was the right decision.
Egypt spent a lot of time on her hair to look her best and she told me that she didn't mind that I messed it up while covering her on the ground. Egypt's hair is a big deal and she works hard for her look. Sad, true, and I appreciate her understanding.
Lastly, she thanked me for keeping her safe and that she felt safe the entire time. I knew at this moment that I did my job as a father and I hope to never relive another moment like those 75 minutes ever again.
My right knee, left ankle, and right wrist were all hurt during the pile up of humans and Egypt reinjured her broken finger and an ankle, but we are both so glad to be alive with only these few minimal injuries.
I'm thankful we both wore gym shoes and we didn't lose any of our possessions, even though Egypt thought she had lost her earbuds before we found them in her bed after falling out of her pocket. Of course, we slept in our clothes at the hotel since we didn't have anything beyond the clothes on our backs, cell phones, and my wallet and car keys. Again, Egypt was a total champ!
I had thought about bringing Kellisa because she doesn't get out as much as she would like and she loves loud music events. I knew she would have a great time, but it seemed like this should be a dad and Egypt night. I'm so glad we didn't bring Kellisa.
I can't imagine how the night would have unfolded with Kellisa in her chair. All I know is that it would have been far worse. In fact, this event has made me question the safety of bringing Kellisa to any large gathering of people because I seriously doubt I could keep her safe if all hell breaks loose. The thought of limiting Kellisa and keeping her home goes against 25+ years of how we live life, but I don't know. We'll see.
I'm sorry Egypt didn't get to enjoy her concert, but we sure shared an experience we will never forget.
I'm sure Egypt and I have changed from this scare and time will tell exactly how as we grow and reflect back.
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