Vigils continue in Florida for 49 killed in nightclub rampage
ORLANDO, Fla. (KGO) -- Vigils are continuing in Florida for the 49 people killed in the rampage on a gay nightclub. On Tuesday night, there was a large gathering at the University of Florida
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Police are reopening some streets near the club, allowing some businesses to reopen that have been closed since the shooting - a small sign of progress in a city paralyzed by grief.
Memorials grow by the minute for those who were killed.
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Angel Colon narrowly escaped the same fate. "All I could hear was the shotgun, one after another. People screaming, people yelling for help," he said.
Colon was shot three times. He was helpless on the ground when he realized it wasn't over. "He's shooting everyone that's already dead on the floor, making sure they're dead," he said.
Colon said Omar Mateen shot a woman lying near him. He knew he was next.
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"I don't know how but by the glory of God, he shoots toward my head but it hits my hand. And then he shoots me again and hits the side of my hip," Colon said.
He said he wishes he could remember the face of the police officer who ultimately dragged him out of the club to an ambulance.
Jason Gonzales is Colon's best friend. He was there, too. "I just thought Angel was behind me the whole time. I was just too scared to look back," he said.
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Gonzales is now by Colon's side in the hospital. "I haven't slept ever since that day. I can barely close my eyes. I just keep replaying that in my head," he said.
Inside Orlando Regional Medical Center, a trauma surgeon said it was surreal. "I would literally walk from that operating room to another operating room and do it again and again," Dr. William Havron said.
Colon said he is forever grateful to the hospital staff and the LGBT community.
"We're getting through this together. I've seen so much love," he said.
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"Angel's not going to stop fighting. I'm not going to stop fighting. We're going to be the voices for all those people who died," Gonzales said.
The medical examiner has released 20 of the 49 victims' bodies to a funeral home.
A GoFundMe account has been set up for the victims and families of the mass shooting in Orlando, click here, for more information.
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