NEWS STARTS NOW. IT’S GREATEST LOSS OF. GAY LESBIAN COMMUNITY IN THE HISTORY. AND IT AFFECT US AS US ALL. GOD, WE WE STAND ON THE PROMISE THAT LOVE WILL ALWAYS WIN. EIGHT YEARS AGO, THE CITY OF ORLANDO WAS SHAKEN BY TRAGEDY. A MAN WALKED INTO THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB AND STARTED SHOOTING, KILLING 49 PEOPLE. AT THE TIME, IT WAS THE DEADLIEST MASS SHOOTING IN US HISTORY. THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US ON THIS AFTERNOON. I’M SHELDON DUTES AND I’M NANCY ALVAREZ. FLAGS ARE FLYING AT HALF STAFF TODAY IN THEIR HONOR, AND AS WESH 2 NEWS BOB HAZEN REPORTS, THIS ALL STARTED WITH A CEREMONY AT THE NIGHTCLUB VERY EARLY THIS MORNING. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN AND WILL BE COMING HERE THROUGHOUT THE DAY, BUT IT STARTED LONG BEFORE THE SUN CAME UP WITH A GROUP OF ANGELS AND A PRAYER. GOD, WE WE STAND ON THE PROMISE THAT LOVE WILL ALWAYS WIN. THEY STOOD IN THE QUIET DARKNESS, HOLDING CANDLES AT 202 IN THE MORNING AT THAT SAME MOMENT, EIGHT YEARS AGO, SOME OF THEIR LIVES WERE CHANGED FOREVER. I STILL HAVE A BULLET INSIDE OF ME. JOSHUA HERNANDEZ WAS HERE DURING THE ATTACK AND SURVIVED DESPITE BEING SHOT TWICE. I FEEL SO SAD BECAUSE THIS IS HORRIBLE. THAT DAY I WAS ON THE FLOOR FOR THREE HOURS. A FEW DOZEN PEOPLE JOINED HERNANDEZ ALONG WITH THE ANGEL ACTION WINGS GROUP, TO HONOR THE 49 PEOPLE KILLED HERE. SOME OF THEM INCLUDED FAMILY MEMBERS OF THE VICTIMS WHO CALLED OUT THE NAMES OF THEIR LOVED ONES. CHRIS BROTMAN. JAVIER. SOME HERE TOLD ME THEY SIMPLY WANTED TO REMEMBER THE VICTIMS. IT’S THE GREATEST LOSS OF A GAY LESBIAN COMMUNITY. UM, IN THE HISTORY. AND IT AFFECT US. US ALL. A LOT HAS CHANGED JUST IN THE PAST YEAR. THE CITY OF ORLANDO NOW OWNS THE NIGHTCLUB SITE. AFTER THE ONE PULSE FOUNDATION DISSOLVED, AND THE MAYOR HAS PROMISED TO GET A PERMANENT MEMORIAL DONE HERE AT THIS SITE BY THIS TIME IN 2026. HERNANDEZ HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THAT PROCESS AND BELIEVES THAT IT’S TIME HE STAYED TOO LONG. THEY THEY NEED TO THIS MEMORIAL FOR US AND THEN WE NEED TO FINISH THIS THIS POST BECAUSE IT’S HARD EVERY TIME IN ORLANDO, BOB HAZEN WESH TWO NEWS WAS THERE ARE SEVERAL REMEMBRANCE EVENTS HAPPENING THROUGHOUT THE DAY TODAY AT 4:00, THE FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH IN DOWNTOWN WILL RING ITS BELLS 49 TIMES, AND THEN AT SEVEN, THE OFFICI
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Pulse survivors, family members gather at former nightclub for symbolic remembrance ceremony
Wednesday marks eight years since the attack at Pulse nightclub that killed 49 people.The commemoration of the tragic event began early in the morning, with a ceremony at the former nightclub. There, people marked the exact moment the shooting started.It was 2:02 a.m. when the shots first rang out, and also the time eight years later when dozens of people came together to remember the victims.Eight people wearing angel wings stood in front of the memorial walls at the former Pulse nightclub, each representing a year that has passed since the horrific attack. They said a prayer and called out the names of their loved ones. Many of them spent time quietly looking at the pictures and messages left for the 49 victims. The people at the ceremony on Wednesday morning include family members and survivors — including one man who was shot twice and had to hide in the bathroom for three hours on June 12, 2016.Jorshua Hernandez says he can still feel the bullet inside of him."It's horrible. That day, I was on the floor for three hours," Hernandez said."It's the greatest loss of the gay and lesbian community in history, and it affected us all. In a positive way, too, through the tragedy. So we just feel for their loss, for the families that lost their loved ones," JC Hennesey, another ceremony attendee, said.Hernandez says it seems like the attack was just yesterday, but now, he's hoping the city finally gets a permanent memorial done. RELATED: Applications open for Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee 8 years after mass shooting"It's taken too long. They need to do this memorial for us, and we need to finish this Pulse, because it's a hard time," Hernandez said. The city now owns the nightclub site, and the mayor has promised to get a permanent memorial done by this time in 2026. There will be a series of events on Wednesday where the public can remember the victims. Those include blood drives at Orlando City Hall and the Dr. Phillips Center. At 4 p.m., First United Methodist Church downtown will ring its bells 49 times, and at 7 p.m., the official Pulse remembrance ceremony will be at the Dr. Phillips Center. The ceremony is focused on victim's families, survivors and first responders. RELATED: Thousands remember Pulse victims at 8th annual Rainbow Run in Orlando
ORLANDO, Fla. —
Wednesday marks eight years since the attack at Pulse nightclub that killed 49 people.
The commemoration of the tragic event began early in the morning, with a ceremony at the former nightclub. There, people marked the exact moment the shooting started.
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It was 2:02 a.m. when the shots first rang out, and also the time eight years later when dozens of people came together to remember the victims.
Eight people wearing angel wings stood in front of the memorial walls at the former Pulse nightclub, each representing a year that has passed since the horrific attack. They said a prayer and called out the names of their loved ones.
Many of them spent time quietly looking at the pictures and messages left for the 49 victims.
The people at the ceremony on Wednesday morning include family members and survivors — including one man who was shot twice and had to hide in the bathroom for three hours on June 12, 2016.
Jorshua Hernandez says he can still feel the bullet inside of him.
"It's horrible. That day, I was on the floor for three hours," Hernandez said.
"It's the greatest loss of the gay and lesbian community in history, and it affected us all. In a positive way, too, through the tragedy. So we just feel for their loss, for the families that lost their loved ones," JC Hennesey, another ceremony attendee, said.
Hernandez says it seems like the attack was just yesterday, but now, he's hoping the city finally gets a permanent memorial done.
RELATED: Applications open for Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee 8 years after mass shooting
"It's taken too long. They need to do this memorial for us, and we need to finish this Pulse, because it's a hard time," Hernandez said.
The city now owns the nightclub site, and the mayor has promised to get a permanent memorial done by this time in 2026.
There will be a series of events on Wednesday where the public can remember the victims. Those include blood drives at Orlando City Hall and the Dr. Phillips Center.
At 4 p.m., First United Methodist Church downtown will ring its bells 49 times, and at 7 p.m., the official Pulse remembrance ceremony will be at the Dr. Phillips Center. The ceremony is focused on victim's families, survivors and first responders.
RELATED: Thousands remember Pulse victims at 8th annual Rainbow Run in Orlando
