Witness inside Pulse nightclub recounts acts of bravery
Amanda McKenzie
Orlando, FL -- Firsthand accounts of what happened during the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub describe the terror and some incredible acts of bravery during the early morning hours of Sunday.
One witness describes how in a matter of seconds, the lively Latin night turned horrific and bloody, but when he realized he was not one of the victim's shot, he grabbed some of the injured to carry them to safety.
"I was right by the VIP with the lounge where the couches were and the guy next to me drops and there's blood," Christopher Hansen said. "I feel wetness and then I see behind me there's a bunch of people falling and screaming and then you're hearing that 'bang bang.'"
Hansen said he hit the ground and started to crawl out of the Pulse nightclub, located at 1912 South Orange Ave. in Orlando.
"They were just screaming, 'get out get out,' but you know when you see somebody laying there, bleeding, you can't just leave them," Hansen said. "So I put him over my shoulder and got him across the street."
Hansen said one man was shot in the back, but the bullet never went through.
"I took my bandana off to plug that wound to make sure - that guy's name was Junior - that he was able to not bleed anymore," Hansen said.
He said paramedics were quick to get to the scene and as word spread about the mass shooting, friends and family members arrived hoping to find their loved ones.
"My son's boyfriend - they saw him being transported into an ambulance with multiple gunshots, but my son hasn't been heard from so I don't know if he was left in the club, if he got shot, or if he's being worked on here," a mother said about her 32-year-old son named Christopher. "It's terrible he's my only child."
Identities of the victims are starting to be released as next of kin are notified.
The City of Orlando has created a new website that lists the names of the victims.
This is the list so far:
- Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old
- Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old
- Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old
- Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old
- Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old
- Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old
- Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old
- Kimberly Morris, 37 years old
- Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old
- Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old
- Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old
- Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old
- Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old
- Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old
- Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old
- Amanda Alvear, 25 years old
- Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old
- Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old
- Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old
- Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old
- Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old
- Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old
- Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old
- Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old
- Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old
- Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old
- Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old
- Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old
- Cory James Connell, 21 years old
- Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old
- Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old
- Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old
- Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 years old
- Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old
- Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old
- Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old
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