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Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
9 years after Pulse massacre, survivors revisit nightclub before building is demolished
The Orlando, Florida, community on Thursday evening is set to honor the 49 victims who were gunned down at the Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016. It was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at the time, though it was surpassed by the Las Vegas attack the following year. The ninth anniversary of the attack comes as groups of victims and survivors this week visit Pulse -- once a popular gay nightclub -- for the last time before the building is razed so that the city can build a permanent memorial in its place. All of the furniture and the dance floor inside the building have been moved and the walls were painted black. City of Orlando Outreach and Engagement Coordinator Donna Wyche told ABC affiliate in Orlando, WFTV, that the families of victims and survivors expressed that they wanted to visit the building before it is demolished. "They've said very clearly we want to see it for one last time before it's gone. We want to be in that sacred place one more time where our loved ones take their last breath," Wyche said. "It's part of the journey of grief." 'If you're alive, raise your hand' desperate rescuer said in Pulse nightclub Pulse nightclub shooting survivor Joshua Hernandez told WFTV on Wednesday that he needs to go inside the nightclub so he can heal. "It's going to feel horrible because I was in the restroom for three hours. So when I go to the restroom, it's going to be very, very sad for me," Hernandez, who was held hostage in the bathroom during the shooting, said. "I'm not ready yet. It's hard. It's hurt me. I'm gonna be -- come out stronger. I'm gonna be stronger to do this, it's time to close the chapter of my life," he added. Police recount how they stopped the Pulse Nightclub shooter Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who has been in office since 2003, also did a walk through of the building on Wednesday and reflected on the 2016 massacre. "It took me back nine years and reflecting on being in the command center on Orange Avenue as all the things are transpiring then," Dyer told WFTV. "The realization of just how many people were impacted. I came out the second time and told everybody, it's not 20, it's 49 victims." Family and friends of the victims, as well as survivors and advocates for the LGBTQ+ community, are set to gather at First United Methodist Church in downtown Orlando at 5:30 p.m. local time for a remembrance ceremony. Rick Scott, who was Florida's governor in 2016, declared June 12 Pulse Remembrance Day in Florida in 2018. City remembers victims of Pulse nightclub shooting The City of Orlando purchased the Pulse nightclub site in October 2023 and committed to building a permanent memorial. Now, the city said plans are moving forward. In March, the city of Orlando issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit a design-build firm for the permanent PulseMemorial, following the advancement of a conceptual design in February. Proposals were submitted by May 29 -- the conceptual design includes a survivor's tribute wall, a reflection pool, a hearing garden and a private gathering space for reflection, according to the city. The memorial is slated to be complete by 2027, it noted. 9 years after Pulse massacre, survivors revisit nightclub before building is demolished originally appeared on
a day ago
9 years after Pulse massacre, survivors revisit nightclub before building is demolished
The Orlando, Florida, community on Thursday evening is set to honor the 49 victims who were gunned down at the Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016. It was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at the time, though it was surpassed by the Las Vegas attack the following year. The ninth anniversary of the attack comes as groups of victims and survivors this week visit Pulse -- once a popular gay nightclub -- for the last time before the building is razed so that the city can build a permanent memorial in its place. All of the furniture and the dance floor inside the building have been moved and the walls were painted black. City of Orlando Outreach and Engagement Coordinator Donna Wyche told ABC affiliate in Orlando, WFTV, that the families of victims and survivors expressed that they wanted to visit the building before it is demolished. "They've said very clearly we want to see it for one last time before it's gone. We want to be in that sacred place one more time where our loved ones take their last breath," Wyche said. "It's part of the journey of grief." Pulse nightclub shooting survivor Joshua Hernandez told WFTV on Wednesday that he needs to go inside the nightclub so he can heal. "It's going to feel horrible because I was in the restroom for three hours. So when I go to the restroom, it's going to be very, very sad for me," Hernandez, who was held hostage in the bathroom during the shooting, said. "I'm not ready yet. It's hard. It's hurt me. I'm gonna be -- come out stronger. I'm gonna be stronger to do this, it's time to close the chapter of my life," he added. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who has been in office since 2003, also did a walk through of the building on Wednesday and reflected on the 2016 massacre. "It took me back nine years and reflecting on being in the command center on Orange Avenue as all the things are transpiring then," Dyer told WFTV. "The realization of just how many people were impacted. I came out the second time and told everybody, it's not 20, it's 49 victims." Family and friends of the victims, as well as survivors and advocates for the LGBTQ+ community, are set to gather at First United Methodist Church in downtown Orlando at 5:30 p.m. local time for a remembrance ceremony. Rick Scott, who was Florida's governor in 2016, declared June 12 Pulse Remembrance Day in Florida in 2018. The City of Orlando purchased the Pulse nightclub site in October 2023 and committed to building a permanent memorial. Now, the city said plans are moving forward. In March, the city of Orlando issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit a design-build firm for the permanent PulseMemorial, following the advancement of a conceptual design in February. Proposals were submitted by May 29 -- the conceptual design includes a survivor's tribute wall, a reflection pool, a hearing garden and a private gathering space for reflection, according to the city. The memorial is slated to be complete by 2027, it noted.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Survivors, victims' families tour Pulse nine years after mass shooting
For Marissa Delgado, the empty Pulse nightclub holds joyful memories of dancing with friends on Latin night and dark reminders of the worst moments of her life. This week, she plans to step into the shuttered club for the first time since the early hours of June 12, 2016 when an armed gunman stormed inside and started firing, killing 49 and injuring scores of others, including Delgado who still carries bullet and shrapnel inside her. Delgado sees the visit as a way to move forward and a chance to ease a bit of the immense grief, sadness and trauma that still weighs on her. But Monday, she admitted, she was still torn about her plans. 'It could help me,' she said. 'It could backtrack me. It could bring back a bad feeling,' she added. 'I don't know. I'm very scared.' The city of Orlando plans to demolish the club's building and erect a memorial on its site. But starting Wednesday afternoon and continuing this week it is offering families of those killed and survivors of the shooting a chance to see inside before the structure is torn down. The building has been closed and surrounded by a temporary memorial to the victims for years. Relatives of 24 of the 49 people killed plan to go inside starting late Wednesday as do about 70 survivors, city officials said, though they know some may decide once they arrive that they cannot go through the doors. The building has been cleaned and sanitized since the massacre nine years ago,but bullet holes still dot the inside walls. Portions of the walls have large holes where people tried to escape. There is no furniture inside, however, so the visitors will see only barren rooms. FBI agents trained with helping victims and survivors will accompany the tours. They will offer support and be able to show where the dance floor, the stage, the bar, the bathrooms — where some people were held hostage for hours — and the dressing rooms were located, said Donna Wyche, a mental health specialist for the city, who is helping to coordinate the tours. The agents also will be able to show visitors, if they ask, the exact spots where many of the victims fell. 'They may want to stand or be in the place where their loved one died,' Wyche said. The city is holding the tours — which are not open to the public — at the request ofvictims' families and survivors. 'It's not closure. But it is part of the journey of grief,' Wyche said Wednesday while standing outside of the Pulse building. 'We've heard them. We've listened to them. And they've said it very clearly: 'We want to see it one last time. We want to be in that sacred place, one more time.'' Christine Leinonen's son Christopher 'Drew' Leinonen, 32, and his boyfriend Juan Guerrero were both killed in the shooting. She is traveling from Polk County to Orlando for a late Wednesday afternoon visit. She has never been inside the club before and doesn't know what she expects to see or feel — but said she is determined go inside no matter what. 'I just want to see where my son took his last breath, where he bled to death,' Leinonen said. 'I owe it to him.' Leinonen said her son was shot nine times. Sometimes, she tries to imagine the pain he felt from the bullets, and the shock and terror as he lay helpless on the dance floor, waiting for aid that never came. She wants to see the last things he saw, she said, and breathe the air he breathed. 'I'm never going to actually know what he felt…but I have to get closer,' she said. 'I have to get close to my son's reality. I'm never going to get closure. I'm not trying to get closure.' About 250 people are expected to tour, many of them relatives but also friends or clergy members who victims and survivors have asked to accompany them. The city will have mental health counselors on site, too, to speak with any visitors who want that help. Delgado, 38, who lives in Clermont, has a friend going with her. She expects she'll hold her hand tightly during their tour Friday morning. Despite what she's faced, including hospital stays and countless therapy sessions, Pulse still sometimes also means 'great memories' when she thinks about about all the time she and friends danced and listened to music at the club on south Orange Avenue. Pulse was billed by its founders as 'the hottest gay bar in Orlando' but it was popular with a large crowd — gay and straight. The club's theme on the night of the shooting was Latin night, when Pulse became a crossroads of the Latino and gay communities. 'It had such a great vibe,' Delgado said. 'I remember how great everyone was.' Not all the survivors of the Pulse shooting want to go back inside. Leonel Melendez Jr. — who was shot multiple times and whose parents were told he might not survive his first days in the hospital — said he's not interested. Every year, he dreads mid-June, when he is reminded again of the worst night of his life. 'The whole thing just brings bad memories,' he said of the Pulse nightclub building. 'But I try not to feel sad. Pulse to me is like a cut, or a wound. I know that it happened. But with time, it heals.' he said. 'But the scar will always be there.' During the shooting, bullets tore through the back of his head and ripped apart his left leg. His good friend Javier Jorge-Reyes was killed. For two weeks, Melendez — 38 at the time — was in intensive care in critical condition. He was on a respirator for 10 days and endured several surgeries. His parents, Nicaraguan immigrants, still call it a milagro, a miracle, that he is alive. Today, Melendez can no longer hear out of one of his ears. And he struggles with physical pain and the emotional toll of the shooting. 'It's just very hard,' he said. 'It's a lot of mixed feelings, mixed emotions. Emotionally, it's very sad that my friend is no longer here.' Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer toured the building nine years ago, after the FBI, which investigated the shooting, turned the building back to the city. He visited again more recently. 'It's a very emotional thing. Each person is going to experience it, I suspect, very much differently,' he said. 'Nothing can bring those 49 back. Nothing can cure the mental anguish that so many people have gone through,' Dyer said. 'There are different phases of grief, and everybody experiences it somewhat differently. I would hope that a site visit would be helpful to some, but I would also hope that the completion of the memorial would help everybody,' he said, speaking to reporters outside the club Wednesday. Building a Pulse memorial has been a drawn-out, controversial affair. Orlando took over the effort in late 2023 after the collapse of the onePulse Foundation. A demolition date has not been set, but city officials said the entire building will be razed, though the iconic Pulse sign will likely be saved. The new memorial — now estimated to cost $12 million — should be built by the end of 2027. Early plans show a reflection pool where the club's dance floor stood. An 18-member citizens' advisory group that includes victims' families, survivors and others helped choose the design. Though there was eventual agreement, some members initially wanted to save the building. Joshua Hernandez, who survived the shooting, will travel to Orlando from his home in Puerto Rico this week but is still not sure if he is ready to step inside the Pulse building. Hernandez had just left the dance floor to go to the bathroom when the shooting started. He was shot in his left arm and in the stomach and lay on the floor for nearly three hours until police killed the gunman and rescued him. He was in the hospital for two weeks. 'Probably yes,' he said about taking the tour. 'It probably will help me heal. … But every day I have this on my mind. It's still like yesterday.' Hernandez is frustrated there is still no permanent memorial 'It's been nine years. I don't want it to be 20 years and still no memorial,' he said. 'I'm ready to finish this facet of my life.' Skyler Swisher of the Sentinel staff contributed to this story.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The 5 NFL Players on Rich Eisen's Olympics Flag Football Team are…?
Wyche: NFL players being in flag football for 2028 Olympic Games will boost NFL's international presence NFL Network's Steve Wyche observes that since now NFL players are able to participate in flag football competitions of the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, there will be a profound impact on the popularity of football from a global perspective. 1:17 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CTAE student signs with MetroPower
HARRIS COUNTY, Ga. () — At Harris County High School, students in the Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education, or CTAE, program don't just prepare for college. They prepare for careers. Construction teacher Joshua Tracy says students in the CTAE program are introduced to key trades like carpentry, masonry, plumbing, and electrical work. 'The goal here of our program being at the end to turn out quality young workers and to provide them with quality businesses in which they can make a career with.' Tracy said. 'We're heavy on credentialing. And so when the students leave our program, it's our goal that we give them all the credentials that we can.' Senior Trey Wyche was placed in an introductory course with Tracey and quickly found his path through the electrical program. He competed in several SkillsUSA competitions – taking home two first place finishes and a third. At one event, judges from MetroPower watched Wyche work, and they liked what they saw. That interest turned into an offer. Wyche signed with MetroPower as a part of their apprenticeship program- officially launching his career in the electrical trade. Tracy says Wyche's skills and character set him apart. Wyche is set to graduate with a 4.4 GPA. He'll then start college and training with MetroPower. He says he is grateful for the opportunity. Tracy says he hopes this signing strengthens the school's relationship with MetroPower – and shows what's possible when education and industry work hand in hand. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
