Firefighter meets US sheriff he saved after Las Vegas shooting

Andrew Dahring and Tony Dumbleton reuniteBBC

Shooting victim Andrew Dahring (left) and firefighter Tony Dumbleton reunite in Los Angeles

A British firefighter has been reunited with a US police officer he helped save during a mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas in 2017.

Tony Dumbleton was at a nearby hotel when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire, killing 58 people.

He gave sheriff Andrew Dahring first aid after seeing him covered in blood. He had been shot twice.

Mr Dumbleton, from Warwickshire, said the meeting in Los Angeles had given him closure.

Speaking after the meeting, arranged by BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, he said: "I've been waiting since October to come out and it is kind of surreal I am here.

"I've missed that connection and just to be with him, to fill in missing pieces for a bit of closure."

Tony Dumbleton said the reunion would help him seek closure

Paddock had set up a firing point in the Mandalay Bay Hotel, which overlooked the festival, before opening fire on 1 October 2017.

Witnesses described hundreds of shots being fired at the 22,000 revellers attending the festival, before the 64-year-old shot himself dead.

Getty Images

About 22,000 attended the festival in Las Vegas

Mr Dahring said he and his wife were running away from the line of fire and had just been refused care by a passing ambulance when they encountered Mr Dumbleton.

The firefighter, who was staying at the MGM Grand at the time, came out of the hotel and approached a shirtless Mr Dahring.

He then asked: "I'm a medic from England, can I help you?"

BBC

Andrew Dahring was shot twice in the attack

Mr Dahring, who has a bullet lodged in his rib cage and is still recovering, said: "Tony was the first person we ran into that actually volunteered to help.

"It was comforting he offered to help when no-one else did."

The pair were previously reunited on air on BBC Coventry & Warwickshire in October 2018.

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