Brandon Flowers on Las Vegas Shooting: ‘I’m Devastated For My Community’

The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers vented that he’s “devastated for [his] community” following the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed over 50 people and injured over 500 Sunday during the Route 91 Harvest festival. The singer ”“ a native of nearby Henderson, Nevada and current Utah resident ”“ wrote in a poignant Facebook post that he is and “will always be ”¦ a Vegas boy.”

“This past Sunday on a flight home from Australia, I flew over my hometown,” he said. “Forehead to the window I looked down on Las Vegas and felt a prick of nostalgia. I thought about my mother buried below, I thought about my friends in Henderson, and I even traced Flamingo road down to where it meets the 95 and pin pointed my high school, Chaparral. I could see the city as a whole, but I couldn’t look close enough to see what was about to unfold. It’s hard to believe it’s real. My prayers go out to those whose lives were taken and to everyone else affected by this nightmare.”

Flowers lamented that the shooting occurred during a concert, which he described as a “rite of passage, a holy communion, or just the kind of escape from the stress and the grind of daily life that so many people need.”

He also praised the attendees who risked bodily harm to aid strangers. “My heart swells when I hear the stories of people putting their lives on the line to help each other ”“ defying the stereotypes of what people say Las Vegas is all about,” he added. “We’re all long lost brothers and sisters. I miss my town, I miss my mom, I miss these victims I didn’t even know, but I look forward to getting together with you real soon to keep their memory alive.”

The Killers recently issued their fifth LP (and first in five years), Wonderful Wonderful, which topped the Billboard 200 during its debut week on the charts.