Hundreds pay respects at funeral for security guard killed in Las Vegas shooting
LAS VEGAS NV Oct 13 2017 The local security guard who lost his life on ‘1 October’ while saving others, has been laid to rest.
It was standing room only at the funeral for Erick Silva as the 21-year-old’s family, friends, and coworkers paid their final respects.
The Las Vegas resident was working security at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival the night when his life — full of promise — was cut short, too soon.
Silva is a hero. He was standing at the front of the stage when the shots began ringing out, making him one of the very first people to respond. Witnesses say he was helping panicked concertgoers to safety when he was shot and killed.
On Thursday at his funeral, hundreds came out, even spilling out to the lobby. Dignitaries Steve Sisolak and Catherine Cortez Masto joined his loved ones in paying their respects.
The 21-year-old was born in California but was raised in Las Vegas. He graduated from Las Vegas High School.
Silva was one of 200 Contemporary Services Corporation (CSC) security guards working the festival the night of the deadly mass shooting.
Jay Purves, the Vice President of CSC Nevada, tells News 3 that Silva proudly began working security for the company at age 19. Over the last three years, he says Silva helped keep people safe at many events including E.D.C. and Life is Beautiful. He adds that Silva had just been promoted and the company had made plans to send him to a Supervisor training course after the Route 91 Festival.
Purves says Silva was “outgoing,” his family’s main provider, and that even in the end, he “always put others first.”
“When the shots started happening, he started pulling people over the barricade to get them to safety, to evacuate on the east side of the venue. As he was doing that, that’s when he was hit by one is the bullets,” says Purves.
Silva’s memory will live on. Purves says plans are in the works to name a training facility after the 21-year-old, directing his namesake as the prime example of what it means to protect others as a #VegasStrong security guard.
3news
