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‘He’s coming. I’m gonna to die’: Terrifying texts Orlando hostage sent to mother during shooting

A MOTHER has shared the texts she received f-rom her terrified son who was trapped inside the Florida nightclub after a gunman opened fire on revellers.

Mina Justice was outside the Pulse Club in Orlando trying to contact her 30-year-old son Eddie Justice, who texted her when the gunshots erupted and asked her to call police.

In the chilling text message exchange, Eddie told his mother, “Mommy I love you”, before saying he was hiding in the bathroom with other patrons.

“He’s coming,” one text message read. “I’m gonna die”.

“The next text said: ‘He has us, and he’s in here with us,’” Mina Justice told reporters outside the nightclub while desperately awaiting more information about her son. “That was the last conversation.”

The texts were received at around 2.45am on Sunday, local time, not long after asuspected Islamic terrorist stormed the gay nightclub, killing about 50 people and injuring 53 in the deadliest mass shooting in US history.

Law enforcement sources have since identified the gunman as 29-year-old Omar Saddiqui Mateen, a US citizen of Afghani descent f-rom Port St Lucie, Florida.

Screengrabs of the texts between Mina Justice and Eddie Justice, obtained by WFTV, reveal the desperate mother’s reply to her son, telling him: “They say stay them (sic) is anybody hurt. Which bathroom u in”.

Eddie Justice told his mother he was trapped in the woman’s bathroom during the shooting.

Eddie Justice told his mother he was trapped in the woman’s bathroom during the shooting.Source:Supplied

Text messages one Orlando clubber sent to his mother while hiding f-rom the gunman.

Text messages one Orlando clubber sent to his mother while hiding f-rom the gunman.Source:Supplied

Ms Justice told WOFL that her son told her he was being held hostage inside a women’s bathroom and that she was worried he was going to die.

“I think it’s all of them in the bathroom. I could hear a lot of people crying,” she told the station, recalling a phone conversation with her son.

Ms Justice did not know if her son was safe when speaking with reporters outside the club.

Another woman, Christine Leinonen, drove to Orlando at 4am after learning of the shooting f-rom a friend of her 32-year-old son, Christopher Leinonen, who was at the nightclub. Ms Leinonen has not heard f-rom her son and he is still missing.

“These are nonsensical killings of our children,” she told AAP. “They’re killing our babies!”

She said her son’s friend Brandon Wolf survived by hiding in a bathroom and running out as the bullets flew.

Christine Leinonen waits for information about her son Chris who is missing after a fatal shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Picture: Gerardo Mora

Christine Leinonen waits for information about her son Chris who is missing after a fatal shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Picture: Gerardo MoraSource:AFP

Volunteers console each other at the LGBTQ Community Centre after the late night shooting at Pulse. Picture: Zack Wittman/Tampa Bay Times

Volunteers console each other at the LGBTQ Community Centre after the late night shooting at Pulse. Picture: Zack Wittman/Tampa Bay TimesSource:AP

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said he has asked the governor to declare the shooting, which coincided with gay pride month in the US, “a state of emergency”.

More than 300 people were packed inside Pulse, which bills itself as “the hottest gay bar” in the city, when the shooting was reported minutes after 2am Sunday, local time.

The nightclub posted on its own Facebook page shortly afterwards: “Everyone get out of pulse and keep running.”

In addition to those killed inside the club, at least 53 people were taken to hospitals in the area. Up to 30 partygoers remained hostages in the club for several hours after the initial shooting. The bloody scene ended hours later after SWAT teams stormed the club and exchanged gunfire with the attacker to rescue the hostages.

Orlando police tweeted that the gunman had been killed shortly after 6am.

In a press conference on Sunday morning, police confirmed “every source in the FBI would be brought to bear”, as they would be investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism. However it is not clear if it was a homophobic or Islamist attack.

Relatives and friends gathered outside the hospitals to learn the fate of loved ones.

Family members wait for word f-rom police after arriving down the street f-rom a shooting involving multiple fatalities at Pulse Orlando nightclub in Orlando. Picture: Phelan M. Ebenhack

Family members wait for word f-rom police after arriving down the street f-rom a shooting involving multiple fatalities at Pulse Orlando nightclub in Orlando. Picture: Phelan M. EbenhackSource:AP


Author: News Australia

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