Crime & Safety

South Austin Woman Among Those Injured In Las Vegas Mass Shooting

Michaela Clark of Circle C. neighborhood was shot in the back but expected to make a full recovery while 3 other area victims recuperate.

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SOUTH AUSTIN, TX — A South Austin woman has been identified as the fourth person from Central Texas to have been injured during the Las Vegas mass shooting that took place last Sunday, according to a published report.

Michaela Clark, who lives in the Circle C. neighborhood, was shot in the back, a friend of hers told the Austin American-Statesman. In a prototypical example of the heroism of ordinary Americans saving others at the site of the shooting, a pair of strangers grabbed the woman and ran with her to safety, the friend told the newspaper.

The local woman is expected to make a full recovery despite her injuries, according to the report. Reportedly, Clark's daughters and fiancé have since joined the woman in Las Vegas.

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A GoFundMe page has since been set up to raise money for the women's bills and other expenses. At last check Wednesday night, $19,690 of a $20,000 goal had been raised in a single day among more than 340 donors.

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According to the news account, Clark had been convinced to get away to Las Vegas despite initial reservations she had about traveling too far from her young daughters for the first time. But she acquiesced after a friend purchased tickets for Clark to attend the Route 91 Harvest Festival, where a gunman killed 58 people and injured more than 500 more from a makeshift perch on the 32nd floor of a hotel adjacent to the outdoor concert venue before apparently taking his own life.

Clark is the fourth victim from Central Texas to have been identified. Chad Daoust of Spicewood was released from the hospital on Tuesday after being shot; Seguin Police Deputy Chief Bruce Ure, a Seguin police deputy from Lakeway, Texas, also was injured; and Danae Dawn Gibbs, a Cedar Park woman who is a member of the ministry staff of Austin’s Riverbend Church, also was injured.

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Daoust is father of two students at Lake Travis High School, a Lake Travis school district spokesman told the Statesman. A GoFundMe has also been established for Daoust in an effort to defray medical costs and raise money for related expenses. That drive has raised $1,860 of a $2,000 goal in two days, collected among 37 people.

Gibbs, 23, graduated from Texas Tech University earlier this year. She was out of surgery as of Monday and recuperating, according to information on a GoFundMe page created for her with an aim to collect $10,000.

For his part, Ure alerted friends and family of his status via Facebook. In an Oct. 2 post simply headlined "I am ok too," posted from Las Vegas just before 4 a.m., he described his injury and the shooting scene: "I caught a piece of bullet shrapnel on my hand but minor. The shooter was 22 floors directly above our room. Rounds hitting the ground all around us. I am guessing 400-500 rounds. Maybe more. Sounded like a war zone."

Just the day before, Ure was palpably excited about being at the music gathering. "Last day at the festival," he wrote, attaching a photo with his post. "Great time!"

>>> Images of Micheala Clark (with family) and Danae Dawn Gibbs via GoFundMe, photo of Bruce Ure via Seguin Police Department

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