It was a normal Saturday night at Pulse nightclub in downtown Orlando, Florida. The place was crowded. Everyone was having fun, said Cheresse Young, a resident DJ at the nightclub who has worked there for five years.
Young left the club around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, less than an hour before a gunman, whom police identified as Omar Mateen, stormed the club. He killed 50 people and injured 53 others before being shot and killed by police. She awoke to the news.
"We don't know why he chose our club," she told The Huffington Post. "The club is totally safe. ... We don't need a lot of security and we only have three to four security guys and that's it. It's a safe space and everyone knows that."
Young said she knows two of the bartenders who were shot and is waiting to hear updates on their condition.
Other Pulse employees, including manager Neema Bahrami, kept loved ones updated by posting on social media.
One man described being inside the club at the time of the attack and seeing people lower themselves to the floor to escape through a back exit. Another posted on Twitter that he was anxiously awaiting news about missing friends.
A harrowing 44-second YouTube video shared by Mitchell Wiggs captured sounds of gunshots and sirens outside the club. It later cut to video of victims on the ground receiving care from emergency personnel.
One person on Facebook posted that he and a group of friends were sitting near the club's entrance when they decided to leave -- seconds before the gunman arrived and opened fire.
That same patron posted a video of ambulances responding to the scene.
"They are just pulling people out in stretchers loading them up," he wrote. "Omg please god let everyone make it - tonight was supposed to be a fun night!! One more minute and we would of been shot or worse.. Thank god we got to our car in time."
There were more than 300 people inside the club when the gunman entered and opened fire, Orlando Police Chief John Mina said. That means close to one-third of the people inside were either wounded or killed.
Hours later, many family members are still searching for their loved ones and holding out hope that they are alive. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced a special hotline for anyone with a loved one who could be a victim: (407) 246-4357.
The City of Orlando is also continually updating a victims list.
Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has asked for a moment of silence across the country at 6 p.m. "to mourn the loss of life and also to pray for those who are still fighting for their life."
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi also issued a stern warning to anyone considering violence.
"Anyone who attacks our LGBT community, anyone who attacks anyone in our state, will be gone after to the full extent of the law," she said. "We need to look out for each other, we need to take care of each other and we will be available as a community, as a state."
Pulse was readying to celebrate its 12th anniversary in July and was actively involved in fundraising for AIDS research and to help sick people with their medical bills. The nightclub, one of only a few major gay clubs in the central Florida region, is especially popular among younger members of the LGBT community but prides itself on being "a safe space whether you're gay or straight," Young said.
She urged everyone to stand in solidarity with the queer community.
"Just continue to pray for us because this is something that no one wants to happen," she said. "In the gay community, we're already trying to battle and fight for everything and this is the last thing that we need to battle."
Melissa, an Orlando native who used to frequent Pulse before moving to New York, said the nightclub holds a special place in her heart. (She asked that her last name be withheld.)
"As a genderqueer and bisexual individual growing up in Orlando, Pulse truly was a place of refuge for me in a very confusing time," she said in an email. "Many of my friends growing up saw Pulse as a safe place to find ourselves free from the judgement we faced elsewhere. It's difficult to explain to someone who is not from Orlando just how important Pulse was to the city's LGBT community, but I can tell you that if not for the nights I had at Pulse, I would not be the same person I am today - and I know I am not alone in this feeling."
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