A pair of cowboy boots that Ashley Hoff never thought she would see again helped unlock a powerful story about the in modern U.S. history.

The resulting film, B次元官网网址�11 Minutes,B次元官网网址� is of the 2017 massacre at a country music festival in Las Vegas and, more importantly, about how it reverberated in the lives of those who were there. More than three hours long, the four-part documentary debuts Tuesday on the Paramount+ streaming service.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e never felt more useful or more like the universe put me exactly where I was supposed to be,B次元官网网址� said Hoff, an executive producer of B次元官网网址�11 Minutes.B次元官网网址�

It seems like a strange sentiment given that Hoff was at the show on Oct. 1, 2017, four rows from the stage as Jason Aldean sang B次元官网网址淎ny OlB次元官网网址� Barstool.B次元官网网址� Hoff heard popping sounds that she and her husband, Shaun, first dismissed as fireworks B次元官网网址� not the work of a gunman firing from a nearby hotel window.

She turned to look at her husband and saw someone just behind him struck in the face by a bullet. They alternated ducking to the ground for cover and running away, depending on when they could hear the gunshots.

At one point, she kicked off her cowboy boots because it was too slippery to run in them, eventually escaping the killing field where 58 people died that night, and two more later of their injuries. More than 850 people were hurt before the gunfire stopped.

Nine months later, an FBI agent was at HoffB次元官网网址檚 door with her boots B次元官网网址� part of a little-known unit that returns property left behind by people caught in these incidents.

Hoff, already in the film business, thought that made an intriguing subject. She was encouraged to broaden her focus through her experience with fellow survivors and the involvement of director Jeff Zimbalist and veteran producers Susan Zirinsky and Terence Wrong.

Many survivors, like herself, were unhappy with media coverage of the massacre, believing there was too much focus on the gunman and that it was forgotten too soon.

B次元官网网址淲e all went back to our corners to suffer in silence,B次元官网网址� she said.

The film takes you vividly inside the event with cellphone and police body-cam footage. The cooperation of Las Vegas police was key, bringing footage like the race to hospitals with survivors and the moment when a tactical unit burst into the casino hotel room where the gunman had barricaded himself.

The experiences of people like Jonathan Smith, a Black concertgoer who had felt unwelcome because of a white manB次元官网网址檚 remark wondering why he was there, and Natalie Grumet, who had just survived cancer, are weaved throughout the story. Both were seriously injured.

B次元官网网址淚s it easy to watch? No, but it shouldnB次元官网网址檛 be easy to watch,B次元官网网址� said SiriusXM host Storme Warren, who was onstage in Las Vegas that night. B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 know why you would tell the story if it were easy to watch.B次元官网网址�

Warren at first hesitated when asked to participate in the film, dealing with his own PTSD and wary because of past media coverage. He and Aldean, who gave his first interview about Las Vegas to filmmakers, are important ties to the country community.

Hoff believes that her own experience that night, even though it is not included in the film, helped convince some of those involved to talk.

Searingly, the parents of Carrie Parsons, a young woman who didnB次元官网网址檛 survive her wounds, discuss dealing with every parentB次元官网网址檚 worst nightmare, and how their time to grieve with her body was cut short.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e going to cremate my daughter in 10 minutes,B次元官网网址� a tearful Ann-Marie Parsons recalled being told. B次元官网网址淗ow do you deal with that?

After the shooting stopped, police talked of hearing the rings of cellphones as they walked among bodies still on the concert grounds, knowing there were desperate callers on the other end wanting to know if their loved ones were safe.

Beyond the concertgoers, itB次元官网网址檚 startling to see some of the first responders B次元官网网址� often not the most emotive types B次元官网网址� speak about how theyB次元官网网址檝e dealt with the emotional aftermath. B次元官网网址淚 was a very angry man. Very angry,B次元官网网址� said Brian Rogers, paramedic operations chief, in the film.

Part four of B次元官网网址�11 Minutes,B次元官网网址� begins at dawn on Oct. 2, 2017, and focuses on some of the , and some of the rescuers.

ItB次元官网网址檚 HoffB次元官网网址檚 favorite part. B次元官网网址淚 do like to encourage people that there is goodness in the end, so hang in for that,B次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址淭here are extraordinary acts of courage and human beings helping human beings,B次元官网网址� said Zirinsky, chief of the See It Now Studios production company. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e just regular people. In the darkest hours, people found each other.B次元官网网址�

Zirinsky, the former CBS B次元官网网址 president, produced B次元官网网址�9/11,B次元官网网址� perhaps the most memorable doc made in the wake of that disaster, and considers B次元官网网址�11 MinutesB次元官网网址� the most powerful film sheB次元官网网址檚 worked on since.

While the film talks about the gunman, whose since he killed himself before police reached him, it pointedly does not mention his name. Almost militantly so: A series of audio news reports included are cut off just before the name is spoken.

It was found that the gunman had searched the internet for B次元官网网址渉ow to be a social media starB次元官网网址� in the days before the shooting. Even in death, Hoff doesnB次元官网网址檛 want to give him that wish.

The film ends with a slow crawl showing the names of those killed five years ago in Las Vegas, as well as the victims of every mass shooting since that time in the U.S. where at least four people were killed.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 call it a political statement,B次元官网网址� Zirinsky said. B次元官网网址淚 call it a statement of reality.B次元官网网址�

Both Hoff and her husband escaped the concert without any gunshot wounds, although Hoff broke her arm when she slipped and fell trying to run in her cowboy boots. She didnB次元官网网址檛 notice her injury until they stopped running.

SheB次元官网网址檚 fine if people take the message from her film that enoughB次元官网网址檚 enough.

B次元官网网址淲e need to stop turning away, and we need to understand what going through this was like,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚t changes a person forever.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擠avid Bauder, The Associated Press