One of the 58 people killed during the mass shooting on Oct. 1 at a country music concert in Las Vegas has been identified as Laura A. Shipp, 50, a former Thousand Oaks resident.
A graduate of Thousand Oaks High School, Shipp was a dispatcher for an air conditioner company. She previously worked for the Conejo Valley Unified School District in Thousand Oaks and the Law Offices of RKM (Rose, Klein & Marias). She was an avid Dodgers fan.
She raised her son 23-year-old Corey, a Marine Corps reservist, by herself, then moved to Las Vegas a few years ago to be closer to him. Both were country music fans and they went to the Route 91 Harvest Festival together, said Joyce Shipp, Laura’s mother. They were joined by Laura’s boyfriend and her brother, Steve Shipp.
Laura Shipp got separated from the group just before the shooting started. “We really don’t know what happened, just that she went to the bathroom and nobody saw her after that,” her mother told The Associated Press.
She said of her grandson, “He’s not doing great. He’s just trying to get his arms around all this but he’s surrounded by his friends and family. We don’t want to leave him alone at this time.”
Nextshark reports that Paris Shipp, a niece of Laura Shipp, posted the following message on Facebook: “From the bottom of our hearts we would like to thank each and every one of you who have thought of our family during these past couple of days. We were all together last night when we received the news that Laura passed away in the recent Las Vegas tragedy. Though we have swung wildly through the entire spectrum of emotions, the one feeling that hits the hardest is the feeling of thankfulness and appreciation. So many have reached out with positive wishes and offers of help in any way. We are thinking of all the families who have been affected.
“Those of you who know Laura can attest to her huge heart and contagious free spirit. We ask that you all remember her that way, just as we will. And, as always… GO DODGERS!
“Corey, you are loved beyond measure. You make her so damn proud.”
The victim was related to Susan Hirasuna, weekend news anchor for Fox 11 in Los Angeles, who posted on Facebook: “Sometimes as a journalist I feel like I’m a purveyor of sadness. Today the sadness is my own. This is a photo of my cousin and her son at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. He is safe. My cousin Laura was missing but I was told today [Oct. 3] she is dead. She was fun and funny with an enviable relationship with her son. Rest In Peace dear Laura.”
Hirasuna added on Oct. 4, “For 27 torturous hours her son, her parents and siblings didn’t know where she was. They checked 11 hospitals. Finally the call they needed but dreaded — her body had been ID’d among the ‘Jane Does.’ My heart aches for the whole family, especially her son. Laura would often say, ‘My son is my life. My life is my son.’”
Hirasuna also said she was “grateful” that her friend Kinya Claiborne, founder and editor-in-chief of Style & Society, survived the ordeal uninjured.