One of the most terrifying and saddest individual stories to come out of Sunday’s mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, was the tale of Eddie Justice, who was texting his mom as he was trapped in the bathroom with the killer and was not heard from after that.
The Associated Press reported that Justice’s mother, Mina, began receiving texts from her son at 2:06 a.m. When she tried calling him he didn’t respond, so she began to text with him before calling 911. Here is the rough conversation as reported by the AP, along with the timing of the texts:
Eddie: “Mommy I love you” (2:06 a.m.)
Eddie: “In club they shooting.”
Mina: “U ok”
Eddie: “Trapp in bathroom.” (2:07 a.m.)
Mina: “What club”
Eddie: “Pulse. Downtown. Call police.”
Eddie: “I’m gonna die.” (2:08 a.m.)
Mina: “I’m calling them now.”
Mina: “U still in there”
Mina: “Answer our damn phone”
Mina: “Call them”
Mina: “Call me.”
Eddie: “Call them mommy” (2:39 a.m.)
Eddie: “Now.”
Mina: [Is anyone hurt?]
Eddie: “Lots. Yes.” (2:42 a.m.)
Mina: [Are you with police?]
Mina: “Text me please”
Eddie: “No” (2:46 a.m.)
Eddie: ‘“Still here in bathroom. He has us. They need to come get us.”
Mina: “The police is in There let me no when u see the police” (2:49 a.m.)
Eddie: “Hurry” (2:49 a.m.)
Eddie: “He’s in he bathroom with us” (2:50 a.m.)
Eddie: “Women’s bathroom is” (2:50 a.m.)
Mina: “Is the man in the bathroom wit u”
Eddie: “He’s a terror”
Eddie: “Yes” (2:51 a.m.)
Mina: “Are u hurt”
Mina: “Stay there he don’t like gay people” (2:52 a.m.)
Mina: “Text me please” (2:53 a.m.)
Mina: “I love u” (2:54 a.m.)
Mina: “Don’t do nothing”
Mina: “Stay down”
Mina: “Baby text me”
Mina then sent her son a series of texts, but never heard back. As of late Sunday night, only eight of the 50 victims’ names had been released to the public and Justice was not yet among them.
Update, June 13, 2016, 11:45 a.m.: It has been confirmed that Eddie Justice was among the 49 victims killed in the Orlando attack.
