Denise Burditus, Las Vegas Massacre Victim Died In Her Husband’s Arms

Tony Burditus, whose wife was one of the victims of the Las Vegas shooter, opened up about the horrific experience of watching a loved one die in his arms.

Denise Salmon Burditus was one of the 58 people killed by Stephen Paddock when he opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel at the audience at Route 91 Harvest music festival Sunday.

Fifty-year-old Denise, who grew up in Hedgesville and lived in Martinsburg, West Virginia, was attending Sunday night’s concert with her husband, as she was a big fan of country music.

The couple was on a weekend getaway to Vegas, and had posted several happy photos on social media before tragedy struck them at the music festival. Like most concert-goers who attended the event, Burditus assured his wife that the initial sounds of gunshots were not bullets raining down on them but just fireworks.

"She asked me if it was gunfire, I told her, 'No,'" Burditus told CNN. "It was during the second burst that we knew — and started ... trying to get out of there. I was leading her through the crowd. I initially thought it was an attack from the ground," he said. "I looked up and didn't see anything.”

The couple at this time had no idea the shooter was perched on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, and kept on moving. Burditus said had he known where the fire was coming from, he would have charted a different course. Denise was hit shortly after and fell unconscious.

A stranger helped Burditus move his unconscious wife to a safe spot, from where they were transported to a hospital on a truck; Denise never regained consciousness.

"Denise's wounds were fatal, I knew that," Burditus said, local news outlet WSAZ reported. "But she wouldn't stop fighting and I wouldn't leave her. I wouldn't quit on her. She left me on the way to the hospital."

"It saddens me to say that I lost my wife of 32 years, a mother of two, soon to be grandmother of five .... in the Las Vegas shooting," Burditus said in a Facebook status, following the event. "Denise passed in my arms. I LOVE YOU BABE."

Burditus also opened up about his marriage with Denise, who had worked as a bank employee for the last 10 years and was presently pursuing her second year of business college.

"Everyday got better. I am telling everyone that 32 years and every day got better. It never ended; it just got better every day," he said.

Burditus said he had attended the Las Vegas concert last year with his wife, and the couple were planning to come back to watch it again in 2018.

The bereaved husband said he decided to speak about the nightmarish experience of losing his wife as he couldn't just let her be a name along with the rest of the victims.

Burditus said he was not ready to go back home to West Virginia yet, and will only leave Las Vegas when he gets the permission to take the remains of his wife home.