UC Davis Grad Among Las Vegas Shooting Victims

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA — A former Santa Clara County woman was among 59 victims — two from the Bay Area — who perished Sunday in the Las Vegas mass shooting. Michelle Vo, 32, a 2003 graduate of Independence High School in San Jose and later, University of California, Davis, who worked at Bay Area companies including Synopsys in Mountain View before moving to Southern California and continuing her career in the Los Angeles area, has been identified in news reports as among the deceased.

Vo, who earned a bachelor's degree in communications from UC Davis, was a Golden State Warriors fan who had traveled to destinations such as Europe and Mexico and had studied abroad in London, her social media profiles show. Professionally, she was a licensed agent for New York Life Insurance Company and had recently joined the LAX Coastal Chamber of Commerce.

"It is with great sadness that the staff and leadership of the LAX Coastal Chamber of Commerce mourn the passing of Chamber member, Michelle Vo," the organization wrote on Facebook. "Michelle Vo (New York Life Insurance Company) was a new member of the Chamber who sadly lost her life in the tragic shooting at Las Vegas, Nevada this past weekend. Our hearts go out to Michelle's friends and family, and to anyone else affected by this heartbreaking tragedy."

Truong Lam, a longtime friend of Vo who says he met her in high school through mutual friends, described her in a Facebook post as "outgoing and social."

"I wish we all hung out more often however she moved," Lam wrote. "She was like the boys and always had time to be there for everyone in time of need. ... The last time we all saw her as during our annual friends and family BBQ which we all played Flip Cup together. She made a big impact on everyone's lives and will always remain someone who stuck [up] for her friends."

All appearances indicated Vo was an independent spirit who seemed to make friends wherever she went. The night of the horrific shooting, she had attended the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival alone, fellow concertgoer Kody Robertson, of Ohio, told the Columbus Dispatch.

Robertson, 32, recalled meeting Vo in the crowd. They danced and laughed as the evening progressed — with no inkling of the horror that would unfold as gunman 64-year-old Stephen Paddock began senselessly firing into the crowd numbering 22,000 from his hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

According to the Dispatch:

“ … As people started to scramble and push and tried to figure out just what the hell was really going on, his newfound friend fell. Two shots. Standing next to Robertson, the woman — her name is Michelle Vo, a family friend confirmed to The Dispatch — was one of the dozens shot and killed by 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, the man police say sprayed the concertgoers with gunfire from an automatic weapon out of a window on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. 'She just went down,' Robertson said by phone Monday morning as he sat in the waiting room of Vegas’s Sunrise Hospital for word about Vo’s fate. He later learned about 2 p.m. (Ohio time) that Vo was among at least 59 killed in the deadliest mass shooting in this country’s modern history.”

Also killed in the shooting was Stacee Etcheber, a 50-year-old Novato resident who had attended the country musical festival with her husband, Vincent Etcheber, a San Francisco police officer.

San Jose State University masters' student Jeannine Ruggiero was among more than 500 people injured in the tragedy.

Following news of the horrific massacre, California Gov. Jerry Brown said capitol flags would be flown at half-staff in recognition of the victims and their families.

"Our prayers and deepest sympathies are with the families and loved ones of those killed and injured in last night's tragic and senseless shooting and we stand with the people of Nevada in this difficult time," Brown said.

Main story image: Natalynn Rivis, a student at University of Nevada Las Vegas, right, takes part in a vigil Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A gunman on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino hotel rained automatic weapons fire down on the crowd of over 22,000 at an outdoor country music festival Sunday. (Photo by Gregory Bull/Associated Press)