Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Report: Man who brought crosses to Las Vegas after mass shooting has terminal cancer

58 Crosses on 2-Year Anniversary of Oct 1 Shooting

Christopher DeVargas

A woman embraces Greg Zanis by the Welcome to Las Vegas sign Tues. Oct. 1, 2019. Zanis placed 58 crosses near the Welcome to Las Vegas sign in honor of those that lost their lives during the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting.

When unspeakable acts of gun violence have occurred in American cities over the years, Greg Zanis and his white wooden crosses have been a beacon of humanity among the ruins.

Zanis made the road trip to Las Vegas from Aurora, Ill., after the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting on the Strip with 58 crosses, which were placed near the Welcome to Las Vegas sign as part of the public memorial to the fatal victims.

Now, Zanis is in hospice care, suffering from terminal cancer, the Chicago Tribune reports. But because of the coronavirus pandemic, his visitors are limited.

So, the community in Aurora is coming together for a final tribute, honoring him out of respect for the ways he’s helped many other grieve over the years.

The plan is for a drive-by visit to his home early next month, the newspaper reported. People also are dropping off cards that were being read to him.

Speaking to the newspaper, Zanis said he was “losing strength.”

A month after the Las Vegas shooting, when Zanis brought 58 new crosses, he described himself as just a “baffled” and “dirty, old carpenter.”

That carpenter has erected more than 20,000 crosses over the past 20 years.