McCombs was visiting Arizona and Laughlin, Nevada and happened to be in the Edgewater Hotel and Casino on Wednesday morning when a man drove his car into the casino, killing two women and injuring seven others.
She suffered a severe head laceration and is recovering today from bruises and sprains. Other victims remain hospitalized in critical condition.
She and her husband had just finished breakfast and he went back upstairs when the car hit. She was thrown to the ground. The person standing next to her was killed instantly.
“It was terrifying,” she said.
The driver, 70-year-old Walter McGie apparently ran a red light and started driving toward the Edgewater Casino entrance when his car hit a median, according to police. The car reportedly continued traveling at a high rate of speed when it drove through the front glass doors of the casino.
Alcohol does not appear to be involved, but police say they found no evidence he tried to brake the Pontiac before the crash.
McGie was released on $6,000 bail Thursday, pending arraignment on two felony charges of reckless driving causing death.
Those who were nearby at the time say there was little to no warning before the car came crashing through, coming to rest 35 feet into the casino.
“I just heard ‘boom, boom, boom.’ I thought it was an explosion,” said Donald Ellis, who was getting ready to check into a room at the Edgewater Hotel. “The people that got hurt, you’ve got to feel sorry for them, because no one could’ve expected that. There was no brakes. There was no noises, just an explosion.”
Police say the injuries of the seven people taken to Nevada and Arizona hospitals range from minor to critical.
McCombs expects to return to Delta Junction early next week.
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