Framingham native Angel Colon, a survivor of the shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Fla., described being shot, left for dead, and shot again before feigning death, and being rescued and treated over the past three days at a hospital press conference Tuesday.
Colon said he and his friends were hugging each other goodbye at the nightclub on Sunday morning when they heard gunfire. He was among more than 100 who were shot that night. Nearly half of them were killed.
“I shattered and broke my bones on my left leg," Colon said. "So by this time I couldn’t walk at all. All I could do was just lay there while everyone was just running on top of me."
He heard the shooter, Omar Mateen, leave the room, and then return, shooting people again, one by one, who were on the ground.
“And I can hear the gunshots closer, and I look over and he shoots the girl next to me," he said. "And I’m just there laying down and I’m thinking, ‘I’m next, I’m dead.’"
Mateen shot Colon again, in his hand and hip, and Colon said he then pretended to be dead. He described being dragged out of the club across broken glass by a police officer.
Colon described how grateful he is to that officer and to the hospital workers who have treated him.
"I will love you guys forever," he told them.
