A witness described a terrifying scene during an early-morning attack that left 50 people dead at Pulse Nightclub, a popular gay club in Orlando. Fifty-three people sustained injuries.
Club-goer Christopher Hansen didn’t actually see the shooter in the crowded venue, but when bodies started dropping, he hit the ground and started crawling, he told reporters after he escaped.
“When I got across the street there were people—there was blood, blood everywhere,” Hansen said. He recalled hearing loud banging sounds while inside, which he assumed was just a part of the music.
“I wasn’t sure if it was the music. I thought it was a Ying Yang Twins song,” Hansen said. “It went with the beat almost until you heard like, too many shots. That’s when you just know. It was chaos.”
Hansen tried to help a victim of the shooting by shoving a bandana he had worn into a hole left by a bullet.
“This is my first nightclub, being out,” said Hansen, who told reporters he just moved to Orlando from Ohio.
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing, but authorities have identified the shooter as Omar Mateen of Port St. Lucie, Florida.
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