Country Singer Jake Owen Gives Harrowing Account of Being on Stage During Las Vegas Shooting

In the aftermath of Sunday night’s mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, country singer Jake Owen—who was on stage during the attack—has spoken out about the “chaotic” experience, Cosmopolitan reports.

“It got faster and faster, almost like it sounded like it was an automatic rifle. You could hear it ringing off the tops of the rafters of the stage,” Owen told the Today show just hours after the attack. “That’s when you saw people fleeing. At that point, everyone on stage just started running everywhere possible. It was pretty chaotic for sure.”

Owen was on stage with fellow country singer Luke Combs and headliner Jason Aldean when a shooter opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

“I just kind of ran like everyone else. At one point, I was crouched down behind a cop car with about 20 other people, that were people who had just come to the show,” Owen said. “Everyone’s asking if everyone’s okay. There was blood on people. You can see a couple of folks in the street that looked like they had been shot, lying there.”

Eventually he made it to his tour bus and hid inside as the gunfire continued. “It wasn’t something that just was quick,” he said. “It was chaos for a pure 7-10 minutes.”

Owen shared his love for his daughter Pearl on Twitter when he heard the gunshots. He later tweeted thanks to the Las Vegas police and called the event “unimaginable.”

Combs also tweeted to verify he and his crew were safe and to send his love.

Aldean posted on Instagram, calling the night’s events “beyond horrific.”

Over 50 people were killed and more than 500 were injured, making the Las Vegas shooting the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.