Facing Evil: Confronting the Deadliest Mass Shooter in History and the Aftermath of What Followed with Josh Bitsko

The Squad Room

On October 1, 2017, Sergeant Josh Bitsko found himself on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, about to confront the deadliest killer in U.S. history. Through a weird combination of fate and initiative, Josh found himself leading the assault team of only four officers against a heavily fortified and well-organized murderer. Only six weeks later, a suspect held a gun to his head during a fight. Soon after that, his wife told him she wanted a divorce, his brother committed suicide and he lost his dad to cancer.

But Josh’s story isn’t a sob story. It isn’t a depressing story. It isn’t a trauma story.

It’s a resilience story.

On today’s episode, we’re fortunate enough to have Josh walk us through his early career up to that fateful night of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival and the aftermath of personal tragedy that awaited him. Josh shares how he mismanaged the trauma and stress, and how he was able to dig himself out of the rubble of his personal life and use the lessons he’s learned to help other cops avoid making the same mistakes.

If you’re looking for a little extra joy in your life, sign up for Tactical Tuesdays, a FREE weekly email where we bring you a few tactics, tips and strategies to help you succeed in the week ahead. It may be about a book I want to share, gear I’ve found useful, an inspiring quote, or anything else I think you’d like. To sign up for the Tactical Tuesdays email list, you can visit thesquadroom.net/tacticaltuesdays.

A special thanks to our sponsors for today’s episode.

TactiScan is a portable drug screening device designed to detect illicit narcotics onsite with no officer exposure. TactiScan is a reusable pocket-sized narcotics screening device designed to detect illicit narcotics onsite that connects by bluetooth and limits officer exposure to potentially dangerous substances. Learn more at tactiscan.com.

Want to make it difficult for criminals to discover your home address? I use OfficerPrivacy and you should, too. Check out the special deal at OfficerPrivacy.com/thesquadroom where you’ll get two free months of monitoring and data removal plus a FREE Cell Phone Privacy Device when you sign up.If you’re looking for a challenge coin to show your pride in a specialty unit, celebrate a retirement, or need something to give out to supporters, look no further than Signature Coins. Signature Coins has industry-leading turnaround times, free artwork design and free shipping inside the U.S. Visit signaturecoins.com and use the coupon code thesquadroom and you’ll get free sequential numbering on the coins in your order.