Mom texts with son for 45 minutes during Orlando attack

AP logo
Monday, June 13, 2016
Mina Justice speaks to a reporter discussing texting with her son Eddie Justice who was in a bathroom at Club Pulse, Sunday June, 12, 2016, in Orlando
Mina Justice speaks to a reporter discussing texting with her son Eddie Justice who was in a bathroom at Club Pulse, Sunday June, 12, 2016, in Orlando
kgo-Courtesy of Mina Justice and AP Photo/Tamara Lush

ORLANDO, FL -- Mina Justice was sound asleep when she received the first text from her son, Eddie Justice, who was in the gay nightclub when a gunman opened fire in an attack that left 49 patrons dead and more than 50 wounded.

RELATED: These are the victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando

This is the conversation she had over text message with her 30-year-old son:

"Mommy I love you," the first message said. It was 2:06 a.m.

"In club they shooting."

Mina Justice tried calling her 30-year-old son. No answer.

PHOTOS: Powerful reactions to Orlando around the world

Alarmed and half awake, she tapped out a response.

"U ok"

At 2:07 a.m., he wrote: "Trapp in bathroom."

Justice asked what club, and he responded: "Pulse. Downtown. Call police."

Then at 2:08: "I'm gonna die."

Now wide awake, Justice dialed 911.

Mina Justice shows a text she received from her son Eddie Justice at Pulse nightclub during a fatal shooting in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, June 12, 2016.
Courtesy of Mina Justice via AP

She sent a flurry of texts over the next several minutes.

"I'm calling them now.

U still in there

Answer our damn phone

Call them

Call me."

RELATED: Mom fears the worst after texting with son in Orlando nightclub

The 911 dispatcher wanted her to stay on the line. She wondered what kind of danger her son was in. He was normally a homebody who liked to eat and work out. He liked to make everyone laugh. He worked as an accountant and lived in a condo in downtown Orlando.

"Lives in a sky house, like the Jeffersons," she would say. "He lives rich."

She knew he was gay and at a club - and all the complications that might entail. Fear surged through her as she waited for his next message.

At 2:39 a.m., he responded:

"Call them mommy

Now."

He wrote that he was in the bathroom.

"He's coming

I'm gonna die."

Justice asked her son if anyone was hurt and which bathroom he was in.

"Lots. Yes," he responded at 2:42 a.m.

When he didn't text back, she sent several more messages. Was he with police?

PHOTOS: Landmarks around the world display rainbows in honor of Orlando victims

"Text me please," she wrote.

"No," he wrote four minutes later. "Still here in bathroom. He has us. They need to come get us."

At 2:49 a.m., she told him the police were there and to let her know when he saw them.

"Hurry," he wrote. "He's in the bathroom with us."

She asked, "Is the man in the bathroom wit u?"

At 2:50 a.m.: "He's a terror."

Then, a final text from her son a minute later: "Yes."

More than 15 hours after that text, Justice still hasn't heard from her son. She and a dozen family and friends are at a hotel that has become a staging area for relatives awaiting news. Any news.

"His name has not come up yet and that's scary. It's just ..." she paused and patted her heart. "It's just, I got this feeling. I got a bad feeling."

On Monday, her fears were realized as another name was added to the list of victims: Eddie Jamoldroy Justice.

Click here for the full story on ABC News.

Click here for full coverage on the deadly mass shooting in Orlando.