A long-time Maple Ridge family is grieving the loss of their son and grandson Jordan McIldoon, 23, killed in the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Sunday.
A total of 59 people were killed and more than 500 injured when a gunman with automatic weapons set up in the 32nd-storey window of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and shot at the crowd attending the Route 91 Music Festival.
His parents, Alan and Angela McIldoon, are expected to return to Maple Ridge today with the body of their son. Friends and family are grieving the loss of someone who always helped out.
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Jordan was to turn 24 on Friday and was just a few weeks away from completing his apprenticeship as a heavy duty mechanic.
His grandmother, Ann Norman, said Jordan was a young man who was doing well and loved his family and girlfriend.
“And he loved Amber. And he just loved us all.”
Jordan’s keys and truck are still at the house, said Norman.
“I’m just expecting him to come up the driveway.”
She added it was unbelievable that the gunman had so many firearms, “and took all those young people’s lives and destroyed families all over.”
Alan and Angela McIldoon put out a statement Tuesday, thanking people for their support.
They said Jordan was at his happiest while at the family’s cabin at Missezula Lake.
“There he spent countless hours riding dirt bikes, wakeboarding, snowmobiling and hanging with his friends from the community who were like his family.
“Our son, Jordan, was a compassionate young man who lived a life full of adventures,” they said.
“From a young age, he was fearless. From finding him perched on the roof of the barn at age two or having him leap into the deep end of the lake before he could swim, he was always on the go. He grew up on our acreage in Maple Ridge and so a love of the outdoors was born within him.”
Jordan’s parents were also grateful to everyone who helped.
“From the people who stayed with Jordan that night and held his hand, to the first responders who had to rush in to an unimaginable scene, we would like to thank everyone for their incredible love and support.
“Jordan did his best to make sure Amber was safe and we know he would have helped others had he not been injured himself. His was a life well lived. He was our only child and no words can describe our pain in losing him,” they said.
Dana Nugent has been a neighbour of the family for years.
“Jordan was an incredible guy. He would give you the shirt off his back,” she said.
On one occasion, Nugent showed up at her house with her pickup truck full of furniture and Jordan just marched over and started unloading it. When her truck was making a funny noise, Jordan quickly checked it out.
“They’re the best neighbours you could ever dream of, the whole family.”
Jordan’s dad Al just mowed her lawn without being asked. Following a storm, they both showed up to clean Nugent’s yard.
Mayor Nicole Read called the violence “unbelievable” and said Maple Ridge hadn’t even responded to the truck attack in Edmonton Saturday, which injured five, when the mass shooting in Las Vegas occurred.
She extended her sympathies to Jordan’s parents.
“To lose a child over this kind of senseless rage and violence … it’s just unbelievable. Maple Ridge, though, is good at wrapping love around people after such tragedies, she added.
