Oct. 7 survivor describes his escape, survival and spiritual transformation

Inor Roni Kagno couldn’t have imagined the horror he witnessed on Oct. 7, 2023.

He was working as a photographer at the Nova Music Festival in Israel when Hamas terrorists attacked, killing nearly 400 people, starting two years of hostilities that have killed thousands.

On Tuesday, Kagno, 27, was in Las Vegas, telling his story, sharing his philosophy and discussing his art in a gathering of supporters invited to hear his message.

He addressed around 150 people in a convention hall at The Venetian on Tuesday, the second anniversary of the attack. While the event was not an official presentation of the 2025 Global Gaming Expo, it was organized by gaming industry leaders and the crowd was mostly G2E attendees.

Kagno survived the massacre by evading gunmen and incoming rocket attacks as fleeing festival-goers were caught in a traffic jam while trying to escape the terror. One of his festival photographer colleagues was killed; another is suffering the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It’s really hard to talk about,” Kagno said in an interview.

“The people I saw were bruised and bloodied. People who were caught in the traffic jam were shot or burned alive in their cars,” he said.

Kagno didn’t photograph any of the atrocities he witnessed; he was too busy seeking escape routes and trying to stay alive.

But the terror of that day changed him forever.

Prior to photo gigs, Kagno described himself as a traveling adventurer, seeking experiences from jungles in the Amazon to African tribal lands to Buddhist temples. His journey led him to Nova festival experiences where attendees seek spiritual meaning through trance music. He described them as similar to festivals like Woodstock, Coachella and Burning Man, where the themes of love and togetherness blend with music and dancing.

Once an atheist, Kagno said he found God on the dance floor.

“It’s the music in the beginning, traditionally,” he said. “People are using that to go in the higher spiritual realms. When you’re dancing, you connect to yourself. We’re even saying that we’re connecting to God. And on these dance floors, in this community, I found my spirituality and my God. And everyone calls God in a different way. Some call it Buddha, some call it the universe, Allah, Karma, whatever you choose. I just wanted to capture it.”

In the end, he said, the spiritual goal is for all faiths to come together through the fundamental moral principle of what is known as “the Golden Rule:” “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Kagno said it’s a universal teaching under Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and other faiths.

Asked whether he’s optimistic that hostilities between Israel and Hamas might be coming to an end through recently started peace talks, Kagno said he typically avoids politics, although he knows he’ll be perceived as political by the very nature of the topics of his lectures.

After his experience two years ago in Israel, Kagno opted to decompress with travel before moving to Los Angeles and establishing a gallery where he produces art with imagery and Hebrew calligraphy.

He said his appearance in Las Vegas — a place he had never been before Tuesday — was sponsored by angel investor Benjie Cherniak, a gaming industry entrepreneur.

“I understand there is a big Jewish community here and there are a lot of Israelis and Jewish people in that field, and they were searching for someone to talk about what’s happened and to kind of connect again on this day,” he said. “For me, it’s an honor to be in service and to talk about my story and about what’s happened.”

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.