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Pasadena ramps up security for Coldplay concert at Rose Bowl after Vegas massacre

Coldplay singer Chris Martin performs at the Rose Bowl in August 2016.
Coldplay singer Chris Martin performs at the Rose Bowl in August 2016.
(Michael Owen Baker / For The Times)
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Pasadena authorities Friday stepped up security for a Coldplay concert at the Rose Bowl in the wake of Sunday’s mass killing at a Las Vegas country music festival.

About 60,000 people attended the show at the outdoor stadium.

“After Sunday’s events, we evaluated our operational plans and looked at our staffing levels, and we’re ready and prepared for the concert,” said Pasadena Police Lt. Art Chute.

According to Chute, additional bomb-sniffing dogs and special response teams were assigned to the venue.

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Fifty-eight people were killed and more than 500 were injured after a gunman opened fire on a crowd of 22,000 concertgoers Sunday night.

“In light of recent events, there are no specific, credible threats related to the Coldplay concert at the Rose Bowl Stadium,” said Pasadena Police Chief Phillip L. Sanchez in a statement.

“The Pasadena Police Department will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners from state and federal agencies to evaluate threat levels and ensure the safety of everyone in attendance.”

By 5:30 p.m., two lines filled with hundreds of concertgoers waiting to go through security. A video instructing attendees how to get smoothly through security and into the Rose Bowl played on repeat.

Standing in line, Harley Elegino, 44, said he’s not worried about attending the show. “I believe that as Americans, we should ignore what the terrorists want us to feel,” he said.

Alejandro Romero, 49, perched on a lawn chair in the grass, enjoying a couple beers before the show with his wife and a friend. “It’s a risk you take every day,” he said of the additional security. “Americans in general are going to carry on until something a little closer happens to them.”

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But Isti Halim, 42, admitted the massacre was on her mind. She’s remembering her friends’ advice to stand to the side instead of in the middle. And her daughter, just 6½ years old, had something to tell her, too: “She said, ‘Be safe mommy. I pray there’s no people shooting.’”

makeda.easter@latimes.com

@makedaeaster

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UPDATES:

7:15 p.m.: This article has been updated with comments from concertgoers.

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