Lorraine and Dennis Carver crashed into a metal gate outside their community at 10:50 p.m. Firefighters worked nearly an hour to put out the fire, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
The couple attended the three-day Harvest 91 music festival one month ago. When shots rang out on the third day while country music star Jason Aldean was on stage, Dennis thought it was firecrackers.
But as soon as he realized he was hearing gunfire, Dennis Carver jumped on top of his wife to cover her body. After several lulls in the shooting, the couple ran for their lives.
According to posts on Lorraine Carver’s Facebook page, the couple hid inside a beer refrigerator and eventually escaped unharmed.
Dennis was 52 and Lorraine was 53. They leave behind two daughters: Brooke and Madison.
The sisters say that their parents seemed more in love after the shooting than ever before in their two-decade relationship.
“After the shooting, they heard from all of the people they cared about most. They were so happy,” said Brooke Carver, 20. “The last two weeks of their lives were really just spent living in the moment.”
The daughters described their dad as strong and independent and their mom as humble and generous.
Three days after the massacre Dennis Carver sent a bouquet of roses to his wife.
“He just wanted to give my mom a reason to smile after the shooting,” Brooke Carver said. “I swear they were more in love those two weeks than the last 20 years.”
The flowers surprised Lorraine Carver. There was no birthday or anniversary to occasion the surprise.
“I have the most amazing husband,” Lorraine wrote on Facebook alongside a photo of the flowers. “Not only did he shield my body during the shooting in Las Vegas and guide me to safety but then he sends me flowers today. I am blessed.”
About a week after the crash that killed their parents, Brooke and her sister received a memento in the mail. The Federal Bureau of Investigation found her father’s phone at the site of the shooting and mailed it back.
“When we turned it on, all his photos and messages were still there,” Brooke said. “This is how we know they’re looking down and watching over us.”
