Orlando Shooting Update: Victims of Mass Shooting Named
List of Names Released by City of Orlando
Early Sunday, an American-born man pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State and proceeded on gunning down people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Fifty people are already confirmed dead. The tragedy has been considered as the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since the September 11 terror attack in 2001.
Terrorist Watch
CNN reported that the gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mateen of Fort Pierce, Florida, was already on terrorist watch as he was interviewed by the FBI in 2013 and 2014. However, he was not found as a threat and was released by the officials.
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Mateen was said to have carried an assault rifle and a pistol into the packed Pulse club around 2 a.m. on June 12 and started shooting, killing 50 people and wounding at least another 53. The stand-off carried on for three hours while people were trapped in the building. Police arrived at the scene, shooting and killing Mateen.
The names and ages of the victims of the nightclub shooting have been released by the Orlando police, and their families have also been contacted. Here is the list of names (to be updated as the next of kin is contacted) of those who fell victim of the mass shooting, as released by the City of Orlando:
1. Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old
2. Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old
3. Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old
4. Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old
5. Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old
6. Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old
7. Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old
8. Kimberly Morris, 37 years old
9. Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old
10. Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old
11. Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old
12. Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old
13. Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old
14. Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old
15. Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old
16. Amanda Alvear, 25 years old
17. Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old
18. Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old
19. Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old
20. Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old
21. Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old
22. Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old
23. Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old
24. Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old
25. Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old
26. Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old
Not a Religious Issue
In his address to the nation from the White House, President Barack Obama said that this act by Mateen should not be regarded as an act against Islam because this is not an issue about religion -- whether Christian or Muslim, the bigger issue is not his faith, but that his is an act against humans as a whole. The president declared, "We know enough to say this was an act of terror and act of hate. And as Americans, we are united in grief, in outrage, and in resolve to defend our people."
In a separate incident, another man was arrested in West Hollywood, California. James Wesley Howell, 20, was said to be on his way to attend the LA Pride festival. However, he has been found with an arsenal in his car that included three assault rifles, high-capacity magazines, ammunition, and a five-gallon bucket with chemicals that can be used as explosives. It is still unclear whether or not this is related to the Orlando attack.
