Mike Goguen involved in rescue efforts following Las Vegas shooting

Whitefish philanthropist Mike Goguen reportedly helped save dozens of victims during a mass shooting in Las Vegas Sunday.

Goguen and his wife Jamie Stephenson were at a country music festival concert when the shooting occurred, killing at least 59 and wounding more than 500. The couple helped carry victims to safety, according to KHQ-TV, an NBC affiliate in Spokane, Washington.

Goguen reportedly texted a message to the station at 1:30 a.m. Monday. He said he helped rescue victims and that his hands were covered in blood. He told the TV station that at least three of the victims he tried to help did not survive.

A prominent philanthropist in the Flathead, Goguen has helped bankroll the Two Bear Air rescue helicopter and is part of its rescue team. The venture capitalist has also been a key contributor to several Whitefish projects.

Goguen and Stephenson, in an interview with the Missoulian, on Monday described the evening saying at first they thought the gunfire was fireworks as part of the music performance.

“But the mood shifted and the lights went out quick and the performers ran from the stage,” Goguen told the Missoulian. “There was a very long burst of automatic fire. My next thought was, now that we know it's gunshots, somebody is actually shooting at people, intentionally causing this kind of panic. He had a shooting position all lined up.”

Goguen said ambulances arrived quickly.

“There were a lot of victims with terrible injuries — multiple bullet wounds to the head and chest,” he told the Missoulain.  “We were trying to keep airways open, apply direct pressure. Fortunately there was a good set of people with training — EMTs, off-duty officers, a core set of people who were helping. The officers were incredibly brave. One officer by me was helping while holding compression on his own neck wound.”
Two Bear Air, in a post on Facebook on Monday afternoon, said Goguen is a rescue specialist and emergency medical technician with Tow Bear Air and his “emergency medical training training was exactly what he needed in this time of tragedy.”

Stephenson posted to Instagram in the aftermath saying that she and Goguen carried people out.

One post said: “MG and I personally helped numerous people and aided the wounded and the dead. It was heart-wrenching but you don't freak out.”

Sunday's incident was the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. A gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel on a crowd gathered at an outdoor country music festival near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. The gunman has been identified as Stephen Paddock, 64. Police found the gunman dead in his room at the hotel, according to Associated Press reports.

Goguen lives part-time in his sprawling estate at Two Bear Ranch on the west shore of Whitefish Lake and has been a prominent philanthropist, business owner and developer in the Flathead Valley.

He was a key donor to constructing the North Valley Food Bank building and the Whitefish Trail effort.