Here’s What We Know About The Orlando Shooting Victims

In the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in USA history, police are still working to notify victims’ next of kin.

Aphoto combination showed victims of the mass shooting that occurred early Sunday at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. He got a text from Sotomayor telling him he was safe in the bathroom and not to come back into the club.

While local officials need to release the names of the deceased, journalists should be “mindful” that “these are the stories of individuals who may not have been open to some of their relatives”, Brian Powell, professor of sociology at Indiana University, said in a phone interview. Some had ties to the Midwest, like 34 year old, Edward Sotomayor.

So much so, his nickname was “top hat Eddie”.

Friends paid tribute on social media using emojis of black hats. He was one of the first victims to be identified in the Orlando shooting.

One of the victims, Edward Sotomayor, was the brand manager for a travel company and a former sales manager for a gay and lesbian lifestyle publication.

The owner of the company, Al Ferguson, wrote he was at the hospital with Sotomayor’s family and felt “empty” upon hearing the news.

The 23-year-old pharmacy technician loved his family. And the feeling was mutual.

“Stanley was one of the most friendly people I’ve ever had a chance to meet”, said Caitlin Rodrigues, one of Almodovar’s friends.

But he never got to eat it. One post said: “Rest in peace my wonderful cousin”.

The three-hour rampage at the gay nightclub began at 2 a.m. Sunday and ended with the 29-year-old American-born Muslim being killed by a police SWAT team.

Luis S. Vielma, 22, Sanford, Fla.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling tweeted her grief over his death.

Among them was Mr Vielma, who worked part-time as a rides attendant at the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey theme park ride, while studying physical therapy at Seminole State College, according to his Facebook profile. “I will try to start to find the good in all of this”.

Juan Ramon Guerrero, who told his cousin Robert Guerrero he was gay about two years ago, anxious about how the rest of his family would react when he told them at the beginning of this year. Guerrero’s cousin said this: “He was like a big brother to me”. The two discovered they were cousins during a chance meeting in Florida around ten years ago.

But he had no reason to be.

“As long as he was happy, they were OK with it”, he told the TV station.

Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36: Ortiz-Rivera was originally from Puerto Rico and lived in Miami in recent years.

They moved to Orlando from MA in 2003. “Edward really went above and beyond for people”.

Akyra was the youngest of the 49 victims.

He worked at a UPS Store and was known for memorizing the names of regulars, according to customers.

“ʺSuch a happy soul, so hilarious, and made anyone’s frown turn upside down”, a friend wrote on Facebook.

The 37-year old bouncer at Pulse nightclub always had a smile on her face.

“As a mother, I feel a deep and huge pain as everyone else who’s going through this”, she added. “In club they shooting”.