Trump Jr. on the Clintons: Americans see the phoniness
EDITOR"S NOTE: Orlando"s mayor on Monday revised the death toll in the nightclub shooting to 49, from 50. The 50th body was identified as gunman Omar Mateen.
As Omar Mateen swept the interior of Pulse nightclub in Orlando with gunfire, 30-year-old Eddie Justice sought shelter in a bathroom. Somehow, amid the chaos, he was able to text his mother, Mina.
"Mommy I love you. In club they shooting," one message read. About 30 minutes later, he texted: "He"s coming. I"m gonna die."
"Still here in bathroom," he wrote at 2:46 a.m. "He has us. They [police] need to come get us."
Early Monday, Justice was confirmed to be among the 50 people killed in the worst mass shooting in modern American history, as city officials began releasing the names and ages of victims whose next of kin had been notified.
As of early Monday, 21 of the victims" identities, including that of Justice, had been posedon a city website. The other 20 confirmed victims are:
-- Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34
-- Stanley Almodovar III, 23
-- Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20
-- Juan Ramon Guerroro, 22
-- Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36
-- Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22
-- Luis S. Vielma, 22
-- Kimberly Morris, 37
--Darryl Roman Burt II, 29
--Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32
--Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21
--Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25
--Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35
--Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50
--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
Sotomayor, 34, was a caring, energetic man known for wearing a silly top hat on cruises, David Sotomayor, who identified himself as the victim"s cousin, told the Associated Press.
David Sotomayor, who lives in Chicago, told the AP on Sunday that Edward worked for a company that held gay cruises and often traveled to promote the company"s events.
The two 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 Sotomayor said.
"You never think that"s going to be the last time you speak to him," David Sotomayor told the AP. "It"s just heartbreaking to know it just can happen anytime."
Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22, had told his cousin Robert Guerrero, that he was gay about two years ago but he was worried about how the rest of his family would react so he did not tell them until just before the beginning of this year. And when he did? "They were very accepting," said Guerrero, 19. "As long as he was happy, they were OK with it."
On Sunday morning, after learning that so many people had died at the nightclub that his cousin had gone to once in a while, Guerrero started to become concerned. Later in the day, his fears were realized when the family learned that Guerrero was identified as one of the victims.
Robert Guerrero said his cousin worked as a telemarketer and in recent months he started attending college at the University of Central Florida. Guerrero said his cousin didn"t quite know what he wanted to study, but he was happy to be in school. And he was happy in a relationship with a person his relatives came to regard as a member of the family, Guerrero said.
"He was always this amazing person (and) he was like a big brother to me," he said of his cousin. "He was never the type to go out to parties, would rather stay home and care for his niece and nephew."
Stanley Almodovar III"s mother had prepared a tomato-and-cheese dip for him to eat when he came home from his night out.
Instead, Rosalie Ramos was awakened by a call at 2 a.m. Sunday telling her something had happened.
Ramostold the Orlando Sentinelher son, a 23-year-old pharmacy technician, 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 a video from Almodovar on Snapchat and learned 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.
Kimberly Morris had taken a job as a bouncer at Pulse after moving to Orlando some months ago.
"She was so excited," ex-girlfriend Starr Shelton told the Sentinel. "She"d just started working there and told me how she was thrilled to get more involved in the LGBT community there," Shelton said.
"I can"t think of a time when I did not see a smile on her face," friend Narvell Benning told the Sentinel. "I"m so thankful of the good memories I have of her. This is just unreal."
Luis Vielma worked at Universal Studios" Wizarding World of Harry Potter.High school friend Eddi Anderson told theTampa Bay Timesthat Vielma loved his job and was known for his pleasant attitude and warm demeanor.
"He was always a friend you could call," co-worker Josh Boesch told the Sentinel. "He was always open and available."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Click for more from The Orlando Sentinel.
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/12/officials-release-initial-list-orlando-nightclub-shooting-victims-names-ages.html
