Mass Shooting at Orlando Club

[robinb]

I'm so sorry. That's really awful.

Thank you for her. I can't even begin to know how it feels.

 

[asta]

CNN just interviewed someone who had seen the shooter at this bar several times over the last three years. He had also been on a gay dating website. This was also in the CNN report.

Editing my statement to add that Anderson Cooper was taken aback by what caller said. I wonder if they had vetted what this guy said before putting him on the air. Anderson said that it was the first that he had heard this. They are being quiet about it now, maybe they are checking his statement.

 

[Irish_Mike]

I too noticed that some victims were under 21. Did this club have something like a "18 to party, 21 to drink policy"? In the clubs I've been to that have this policy, the under 21 crowd is segregated into a certain room or area with no bar.

I can't say anything about Pulse's policy (as I never attended a night there), but many of the gay clubs in Orlando do have a policy of 18+, with 21+ to drink.

Pulse is also one of the more popular locations, particularly on "themed nights", with a younger crowd.

Editing my statement to add that Anderson Cooper was taken aback by what caller said. I wonder if they had vetted what this guy said before putting him on the air. Anderson said that it was the first that he had heard this. They are being quiet about it now, maybe they are checking his statement.

Chris Hayes also had an interview with someone who claimed that they had seen the shooter at the club before. I believe that I also read (Washington Post, I believe) that another patron gave his phone to police with messages from the shooter on a gay dating app.

 

[LiveYourLife]

All 49 victims have been identified. I am praying hard that there will be no more.

I encourage you all to read the stories of all of the victims as they are shared. Please continue to pray for their loved ones, those that were injured, our first responders, my City - the City that a lot of you call "home", and our Country.

I posted earlier in the thread that I knew no one that was at Pulse that night. Actually I knew 300+ people at Pulse that night, sadly, it took something unimaginable to happen for me to realize that the people that I share the City Beautiful with, are my family. We are all Orlando United.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

Sorry to be so snippy. I just found out that a friend lost their friend yesterday.

My sincere sympathy to you and the other posters that have lost loved ones or been personally affected by this tragedy or know people that have been. I can't imagine. Watching the stories of these young people is just heartbreaking.

We are all just trying to get some control over a situation caused by the insane actions of others any way we can.

Everyone's nerves are raw - no need for apologies.

 

[Irish_Mike]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemcneal/orlando-shooting-victims?utm_term=.cqZYzWRMR#.xxab3Enjn

Buzzfeed has been running an ongoing article on the 49 victims, with photos and life details as they become available. I know CNN has had it as well, for those looking for a way to read the stories of these victims.

 

[KathyTX]

I have removed several posts, and several posters are no longer able to respond on this thread because they continued to argue/debate gun control after I warned not to several times. Please keep it respectful here.

Carry on.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Thank you Kathy.

 

[PrincessNelly]

The comment about the KKK was in response to a poster ahead of me who brought it up.

And it has everything to do with being politically correct. People are afraid to speak up for fear they will be shamed and shouted down for questioning anyone Muslim, even for good reason. Remember the reports after the San Bernadino shooting? People said they saw questionable things but were afraid to speak up.

People in this case spoke up, but we have no idea why they weren't followed more closely by the FBI. Perhaps there was nothing there to warrant it. Or perhaps they were being overly cautious because he was Muslim.

We will have to agree to disagree... you are speculating that is why people didn't speak up. Until that is a proven fact then I will not entertain that.

However, its worth noting many of the most recent massacres have been done by troubled individuals whose family & friends admitted they knew something was wrong but didn't do anything about it. Not in just this case.

At the end of the day... nothing in this forum will bring back the innocent lives lost.
We can only hope this time is the last time. We can only hope this time, real change does happen.

 

[mom2rtk]

We will have to agree to disagree... you are speculating that is why people didn't speak up. Until that is a proven fact then I will not entertain that.

However, its worth noting many of the most recent massacres have been done by troubled individuals whose family & friends admitted they knew something was wrong but didn't do anything about it. Not in just this case.

At the end of the day... nothing in this forum will bring back the innocent lives lost.
We can only hope this time is the last time. We can only hope this time, real change does happen.

Of course it's speculation about the most recent incident, which is why I used words like "perhaps" and "we have no idea".

But I'm pretty sure the neighbors in the San Bernadino case spoke up and said why they had not reported the couple.

 

[PrincessNelly]

Amanda Alvear's brother released the video of her last few snapchats before she was killed. It was heartbreaking to hear the sound of gunshots in the background.

You could tell they were extremely confused about what was going on.

I can hope try to find peace in the fact that just prior to this shooting, all seemed to be having a wonderful time surrounded by family and/or friends & filled with laughter.

 

[PrincessNelly]

Of course it's speculation about the most recent incident, which is why I used words like "perhaps" and "we have no idea".

But I'm pretty sure the neighbors in the San Bernadino case spoke up and said why they had not reported the couple.

Actually none of those reports were able to be verified by the FBI. And until it has been proven in this case, we should not assume fear of being politically correct had to do with this. Lets what for the acts before assuming anything. That's all I'm saying.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Maybe, but 18-19 year olds really wouldn't be pedi patients unless they were really tiny -- although it might also depend on one particular patient's medical history. I know Nicklaus Children's Hospital here in Coral Gables (formerly Miami Childrens) still treats adult patients in their cardiac unit because they were pedi cardiac patients there as kids and everybody knows every iota of their condition.

But more likely, I think, is the pedi surgeon once worked in a trauma center with another of the trauma docs, they knew he or she was good, and they made the call. Orlando is not that large a city and the docs all know each other. Never a bad phone call in a situation like this.

Some children have surgeries as children that, even if they need additional surgeries for the same thing as an adult, are only performed by a pediatric surgeon. The reason for this is because adult surgeons wouldn't see enough to get good at them, nor would they stock the right equipment in an adult hospital, etc. so if someone there that night had one of these type surgeries before, and was injured, say, they may need the expertise of a pediatric surgeon. Someone else mentioned very small people - that could also have been a factor. And as another said, just covering all their bases.

The NY Dailynews website says the shooter was a regular. Let's of people recognize him. I told my wife the only type of person who could get this upset w seeing two men kiss is someone afraid of who they are. How sad

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...-pulse-club-regular-patrons-article-1.2672445

Ok I didn't post it but yesterday I read an article about how the shooter worked at a GNC Vitamin-type store when he was younger, and while there, he became very friendly, and hung out with, a lot of gay men who worked nearby at a Ruby Tuesday's, where he often ordered food. Not sure if it's related, but it did come up.

 

[robinb]

My sincere sympathy to you and the other posters that have lost loved ones or been personally affected by this tragedy or know people that have been. I can't imagine. Watching the stories of these young people is just heartbreaking.

We are all just trying to get some control over a situation caused by the insane actions of others any way we can.

Everyone's nerves are raw - no need for apologies.

thank you. I live all the way up in Wisconsin so it was quite a shock for me to know someone directly effected. It brings the horror right home to me.

 

[King Schultz]

I so sorry to hear about your friends loss Robin.


(((hugs)))


Your old pal,

WillyJ

 

[ashley0139]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemcneal/orlando-shooting-victims?utm_term=.cqZYzWRMR#.xxab3Enjn

Buzzfeed has been running an ongoing article on the 49 victims, with photos and life details as they become available. I know CNN has had it as well, for those looking for a way to read the stories of these victims.

Thank you for posting the article. I just read about each person and cried. It's unfathomable. The video of the mom talking about the texts she was receiving from her son as it was happening was particularly heartbreaking.

 

[robinb]

Thank you for posting the article. I just read about each person and cried. It's unfathomable. The video of the mom talking about the texts she was receiving from her son as it was happening was particularly heartbreaking.

I just started working through the list. Amanda Alvear's Snapchat video with her cute and smiling in the foreground and the gunshots in the background is positively chilling.

 

[JaneBanks]

Here is a video interview with the mother that was looking for her son on the news during the early hours of the tragedy. It's 14 minutes long and I'm only halfway through watching but the way she found out about her son being one of the deceased isn't great.

http://www.wesh.com/news/mom-who-ma...-find-her-son-learns-his-tragic-fate/40028714

 

[wilkeliza]

Still very hard to process this. At moments I'm so glad my Orlando friends and Disney family weren't there but at the same time I'm incredibly shaken over the loss of so many. Also finding out a beloved CM was among the dead did not help. I have friends who knew Louis form his time at Universal and others who are anxiously awaiting updates on friends who are in the hospital. I'm just at a loss for what to do for them and just keep saying I'm here if they need me.

 

[King Schultz]

I just started working through the list. Amanda Alvear's Snapchat video with her cute and smiling in the foreground and the gunshots in the background is positively chilling.

Was she the young lady with the black rim glasses?


If so, I saw that too. Hard to watch.