Numerous accounts have come from the survivors of last weekend’s tragic shooting at the Pulse nightclub that left 49 people dead and many others injured. Each of the accounts are terrifying and give background on what can only be described as hours of horror. This survivor shares her experience through both poetry and personal interactions with the gunman on that tragic night.

Patience Carter explains in the clip below that she was attending the party with her friends when violence struck out. She starts the interview with a poem explaining how she is still struggling with guilt after so many had their lives taken from them. She says, “the guilt of feeling grateful to be alive is heavy…I feel guilty about screaming about my legs in pain because I could feel nothing.”

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Later, she explains that, at some point during the ordeal, she found herself in the bathroom pinned under another survivor. She was injured after having been shot in the leg. At that time, the gunman came in and asked if there were any Black people in the restroom. When another survivor responded that there were, Carter explains that the gunman told them that he was not targeting them, that Black people had “suffered enough.” She even heard a 911 call the gunman made to explain why he had opened fire on the club-goers.

The account Carter provides is truly disturbing but also helps to shine light on the events of that fateful night.

Watch the video below:

Photo: YouTube

Author

  • Jenn M. Jackson was born and raised in East Oakland, California, a fact which motivates her writing and academic ambitions. She is a scholar, educator, and writer whose writing addresses Black Politics and civil and public life for young Black people with a focus on policing and surveillance. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of Water Cooler Convos, a culture platform for Black millennials. Her writing has been featured in Washington Post, BITCH Magazine, Marie Claire, EBONY, The Root, Daily Dot, The Independent, and many others. Jackson is a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago studying American Politics with a focus on political participation and engagement, public opinion and social movements. For more about her, tweet her at @JennMJack or visit her website at jennmjackson.com.