Monday, June 13, 2016

Names of Orlando Shooting Victims Released

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, at 2 am on Sunday morning, a gunman by the name of Omar Mateen carried out the largest mass shooting in U.S. history, killing 53 patrons of Pulse nightclub in Orlando and injuring 50 others.


It’s impossible to make sense of a tragedy on the scale of the Orlando shooting, but a newly released list of the names of the victims helps us to at least begin to comprehend the magnitude of the loss. 



The victims were mostly young, Hispanic men who were in attendance for the club’s weekly Latin music night.


One of them worked on the Harry Potter ride at nearby Universal Studios.


Another had recently relocated from Brooklyn to enjoy the city’s warmer climate. 


All of them lost their lives in the sort of senseless bloodshed that once would have been inconceivable but has now become commonplace in America.


Our thoughts are with their families as they struggle to cope with this unimaginable tragedy: 


Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old


Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old


Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old


Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old


Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old


Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old


Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old


Kimberly Morris, 37 years old


Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old


Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old


Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old


Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old


Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old


Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old


Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old


Amanda Alvear, 25 years old


Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old


Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old


Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old


Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old


Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old


Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old


Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old


Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old


Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old


Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old


Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old


Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old


Cory James Connell, 21 years old


Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old


Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old


Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old


Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 years old


Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old


Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old


Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old


Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old


Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27 years old


Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old


Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old


Yilmary Rodriguez Sulivan, 24 years old


Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old


Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old


Frank Hernandez, 27 years old


Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old


Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old