A survivor of the Orlando shooting, which killed 49 people and wounded 53 others at gay nightclub Pulse, says the gunman tried to spare black people. Since the shooting, many survivors have come forward to tell harrowing stories of the shooting and heroic stories about saving others.
Patience Carter, a 20-year-old at Pulse with her friend,s told her story Tuesday in a press conference from Orlando’s Florida Hospital. She was at the club with her friend 20-year-old Tiara Parker and Parker's 18-year-old cousin Akyra Murray as a part of a vacation with Parker's family.
Parker had called an Uber when the shooting began. Carter and Murray crawled their way out of the club and made it outside only to notice Parker wasn't with them, prompting them to head back inside. Once they located Parker inside they hid in the bathroom where the gunman, Omar Mateen, eventually entered and started shooting.
According to Carter, she heard Mateen in the bathroom on the phone with police negotiators pledging his allegiance to ISIS. "He said the reason why he was doing this is he wanted America to stop bombing his country," Carter said.
Mateen, born to Afghan parents, is originally from New York.
Carter says Mateen asked "Are there any black people in here?" Carter said she was afraid to answer but that another black person hiding in the bathroom did answer.
"I don't have a problem with black people," Mateen is said to have answered. "This is about my country. You guys suffered enough."
Most of the Orlando shooting victims were from the Latino community out for the club's Latin night.
Carter was eventually one of many rescued by police. Mateen was killed in a confrontation with police.
Carter, Parker, and Murray, were all shot in the bathroom. Unlike Carter and Parker, Murray died.
