These are the victims of the worst mass shooting in American history.
Terrorist
Omar Mateen shot dead 50 people and wounded at least 53 more during the
massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in the early hours of Sunday
morning – and called 911 just before the attack to pledge allegiance to
ISIS.
Mateen,
29, of Port St. Lucie in Florida, reportedly laughed as he sprayed
bullets into the crowded club before he was shot dead by a SWAT team
several hours after launching his horrific massacre with a legally
bought assault rifle and pistol.
Although
US officials do not know if the attack was directed by ISIS, Mateen was
inspired by the terror group and has been investigated by the FBI twice
over his suspected terror links. He also attended the same Mosque as an
American suicide bomber.
ISIS's
Amaq news agency said the terror group was responsible for the shooting
and says Mateen was one of its fighters. During the attack, Mateen also
referenced the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, a Massachusetts State
Police spokesman said on Sunday.
Donald
Trump called for President Barack Obama to resign after he did
not blame radical Islam for the attack in his remarks following the
shooting, referring to it instead as an 'act of terror' and an 'act of
hate.'
Trump
also congratulated himself, saying that he 'called it' when he touted a
ban on all Muslim immigrants entering the United States in the wake of
the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, in December last
year - despite the fact that Mateen was an American citizen.
Mateen,
who has a wife and young son, has been described as a 'mentally ill'
loner who beat his ex-wife for not completing household chores and
became enraged when he saw two men kissing months before launching his
attack.
So far, 15 victims have been officially identified by the city of Orlando on its website.
On
Sunday, Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34; Stanley Almodovar III, 23; Luis Omar
Ocasio-Capo, 20; Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22; Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36;
Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22; Luis S. Vielma, 22 and Kimberly Morris, 37,
were confirmed dead.
In
the early hours of Monday morning, Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30; Darryl
Roman Burt II, 29, Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32; Alejandro Barrios
Martinez, 21; Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25; Jean Carlos Mendez Perez,
35; and Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50, were added to the list.
Scroll down for video 
Edward
Sotomayor Jr. (left) and Stanley Almodovar III (right) were the first
victims identified in the aftermath of the worst mass shooting in
American history
Juan Ramon Guerrero (left) and Luis Vielma (right) also died in the nightclub shooting on Sunday, authorities have confirmed
Shortly
after making the 911 call, Mateen entered the crowded nightclub at
around 2am carrying an AR-15 and started spraying the helpless crowd
with bullets.
Witnesses
said he fired relentlessly - 20 rounds, 40, then 50 and more. In such
tight quarters, the bullets could hardly miss. He shot at police. He
took hostages. Around 5am, authorities sent in a SWAT team to rescue
them, Police Chief John Mina said.
The shooter exchanged gunfire with 14 police officers at the club, which had more than 300 people inside. 'He
had an automatic rifle, so nobody stood a chance,' said Jackie Smith,
who had two friends next to her get shot. 'I just tried to get out of
there.'
When
the gunfire finally stopped, 50 were dead and dozens critically
wounded. Thirty-nine of the dead were killed at the club, and 11 people
died at hospitals, the mayor said.
The mother of one of the victims, Mina Justice, had been sound asleep when she received the first text from her son, Eddie.
Early
on Sunday morning, she was outside the club trying to contact her son,
who texted her when the shooting happened and asked her to call police.
He told her
he ran into a bathroom with other club patrons to hide. He then texted
her: 'He's coming.' The next text said: 'He has us, and he's in here
with us,'' she said. 'That was the last conversation.'
She and a dozen family and friends remained outside at a hotel that has become a staging area for relatives awaiting news.
'His name has not come up yet and that's scary,' she said on Sunday 'It's just, I got this feeling. I got a bad feeling.'
She
said her son was normally a homebody who liked to eat and work out. He
liked to make everyone laugh. He worked as an accountant and lived in a
condo in downtown Orlando.
'Lives
in a sky house, like the Jeffersons,' she would say. 'He lives
rich.' In the early hours of Monday morning, Eddie Justice was confirmed
dead.
+50
+50
Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo (left) and Eric Ortiz-Rivera (right) also died in the shooting at Pulse nightclub, authorities have said
+50
+50
Gonzalez-Cruz (pictured), who worked at UPS and lived in Orlando, Florida, and Kimberly Morris (right) was also named as victims
+50
Eddie Justice (pictured) an accountant who lived in downtown Orlando, was named as one of the victims early on Monday morning
+50
+50
On Sunday,
Mina Justice (left) was outside the club trying to contact her son,
Eddie, who texted her (right) when the shooting happened and asked her
to call police. He was later confirmed dead
+50
Terrorist Omar Mateen shot dead 50
people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in the early hours of Sunday
morning – and called 911 just before the attack to pledge allegiance to
ISIS. Above, forensic investigators work at the scene of the massacre
On
Sunday, the first of the victims named was Edward Sotomayor, who worked
as the national brand manager for ALandChuck Travel, a company that
specialized in vacations for the gay community.
His boss, Al Ferguson, said Sotomayor's partner was outside the nightclub putting something in the car when the shots rang out.
He
got a text from Sotomayor telling him he was safe in the bathroom and
not to come back into the club. Sotomayor texted again 20 minutes later
to say he was OK. That was the last his partner heard from him, Ferguson
said.
'I'M GOING TO DIE': MINA JUSTICE'S LAST CONVERSATION WITH HER SON
This is last conversation Mina Justice had over text message with her 30-year-old son Eddie.
'Mommy I love you,' the first message said. It was 2.06am.
'In club they shooting.'
She tried calling her 30-year-old son. No answer.
Alarmed and half awake, she tapped out a response. 'U ok'
At 2.07am, he wrote: 'Trapp in bathroom.'
Justice asked what club, and he responded: 'Pulse. Downtown. Call police.'
Then at 2.08: 'I'm gonna die.'
Now wide awake, Justice dialed 911.
She sent a flurry of texts over the next several minutes.
'I'm calling them now.
U still in there
Answer our damn phone
Call them
Call me.'
The 911 dispatcher wanted her to stay on the line.
She
knew he was gay and at a club - and all the complications that might
entail. Fear surged through her as she waited for his next message.
At 2.39am, he responded: 'Call them mommy Now.'
He wrote that he was in the bathroom. 'He's coming' and 'I'm gonna die.'
Justice asked her son if anyone was hurt and which bathroom he was in.
'Lots. Yes,' he responded at 2.42am.
When he didn't text back, she sent several more messages. Was he with police? 'Text me please,' she wrote.
'No,' he wrote four minutes later. 'Still here in bathroom. He has us. They need to come get us.'
At 2.49 a.m., she told him the police were there and to let her know when he saw them.
'Hurry,' he wrote. 'He's in the bathroom with us.'
She asked, 'Is the man in the bathroom wit u?'
At 2:50am: 'He's a terror.'
Then, a final text from her son a minute later: 'Yes.'
Sotomayor
was a legend in the industry, Ferguson added. He booked tours for
entertainer and drag queen RuPaul and put together the first gay cruise
to Cuba last year. He was going to announce a second trip on Sunday, but
was killed.
'Anyone who booked gay cruises knew Sotomayor,' Ferguson told Reuters. 'He was a great man.'
In an Instagram post published on Sunday, RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage called Sotomayor 'a joy.'
'I loved you on so many levels. You were SO SO special and will never be forgotten,' she wrote. 'I promise you that.'
David
Sotomayor, who lives in Chicago and identified himself as the victim's
cousin, described him as a caring, energetic man known for wearing a
silly top hat on cruises.
He
told the AP that Edward worked for a company that held gay cruises and
often traveled to promote the company's events. 'He was just always part
of the fun,' he said.
The
pair discovered they were related after meeting at Orlando's annual Gay
Days festival around a decade ago. They texted regularly and kept in
touch, last seeing each other earlier this year at a filming of the
television reality show 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' David said.
David Sotomayor is a drag queen who appeared on a season of the show using the name 'Jade.'
He said Edward Sotomayor supported him and often sent him Facebook messages. They last exchanged messages last week.
'You
never think that's going to be the last time you speak to him,' David
Sotomayor said. 'It's just heartbreaking to know it just can happen
anytime.'
Neighbors
of Almodovar, a 23-year-old pharmacy technician, said his parents had
recently moved back to Puerto Rico after his mother became ill with
cancer, Reuters reported. He was the youngest in the family.
But
his mother Rosalie Ramos, 51, had been in Orlando at the time of the
shooting and paid tribute to her son, calling him a 'happy man with a
big heart.'
She had prepared a tomato-and-cheese dip for him to eat when he came home from his night out and gone to bed.
She was awakened by a call at 2am telling her something had happened.
Ramos
revealed her panic after receiving a call that informed her that her
son had been shot. 'I was hoping maybe [he was shot in] the hand or the
leg,' she told the Orlando Sentinel. 'You can survive [a gunshot to] the leg.'
But Almodovar was shot three times, in the chest, stomach and side of his body. He died at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
She added that her son had posted a Snapchat video of himself singing and laughing on his way to Pulse nightclub.
'I wish I had that (video) to remember him forever,' she told the newspaper.
A
friend, Hazel Ramirez, told the Washington Post she also saw the video
from Almodovar on Snapchat and learned on Sunday afternoon what had
happened.
Ramirez described Almodovar as 'kind, but sassy,' and someone who was comfortable with his own sexual identity.
'He
was so proud of who he was,' she told the Post. 'He would do his makeup
better than anyone else. It was so easy to be myself with him.
Sabiel
Rivera, 30, who is a neighbor of Almodovar in Clermont, Florida, told
Daily Mail Online that he 'was a cool guy, who was very humble and never
got into any trouble.'
It is believed he shared a top floor apartment with his mother.
Originally from
Springfield, Massachusetts, he was living in Clermont, according to his
Facebook page, which has been flooded by friends paying tribute in the
aftermath of the tragedy.
'Rest in peace my friend, wrote Brian Garcia. 'You were always so full of joy Stanley, we will miss you buddy.'
Mark Nielson added: 'We'll miss you Stanley. You made an impact on everyone that you came around. A good person and friend.'
He graduated from East Ridge High School in Clermont in 2011 before studying at Anthem College, his family said.
Guerrero
was so concerned about how his family would react to his sexuality that
he only came out to his parents at the beginning of this year, his
cousin Robert Guerrero told CBS News.
When
he did, they were 'very accepting,' the 19-year-old said. 'As long as
he was happy, they were OK with it.' He was in a relationship with
someone that his relatives came to see as a member of the family, he
said.
Robert
Guerrero said he began to worry about his cousin, who worked as a
telemarketer and was a student at the University of Central Florida,
when he heard about the shooting at a club he knew Guerrero sometimes
visited. Later in the day, his worst fears were realized.
'He
was always this amazing person and he was like a big brother to me,' he
said. 'He was never the type to go out to parties, would rather stay
home and care for his niece and nephew.'
Friends and family have paid to Guerrero on his Instagram page, calling him a 'beautiful soul.'
'So unfair what happened to you. RIP. I hope the light will rule out all darkness,' said one comment.
Friends and family paid tribute to Capo on Facebook, who they called 'Omar' in tributes.
His
aunt Carla Ocasio called him her 'dear nephew' and shared a photo of
the 20-year-old that said 'dance freely in the heavens.'
Another
family member Robert said: 'God bless us all and give us strength in
our time of need. Lord guide us with your light so we don't live in fear
of the darkness evil brings.'
Claudia Mason said that she worked with Capo at Target in Kissimmee, Buzzfeed reported.
'He
lit up any area he worked in, especially Starbucks,' she wrote. 'So sad
that his life was cut so short by such an evil person.'
More Victims Picture later
No comments:
Post a Comment