A new video has surfaced showing clubgoers hiding in the bathroom at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub while a gunman shot and killed 49 people in what is now considered the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Cell phone footage obtained by Orlando station Local10 shows 20 to 30 people hiding in the bathroom stalls. One of the survivors, Miguel Leiva, told the news station he heard shooter Omar Mateen utter a “devilish laugh” during the siege.
While taking cover, hostages texted their families videos of the situation while trying to stay quiet so the gunman wouldn’t hear them. The group of hostages was held for over four hours until the shootout between Mateen and authorities ended in his death.
Leiva also detailed measures the group took to survive, including passing around one cup of water to everyone. One survivor was even on the phone with a 911 negotiator.
Mateen’s current wife is under investigation as she claimed awareness of her husband’s plan to commit an act of terror in advance of Sunday’s tragic shooting.
According to NBC News, Noor Zahi Salman told the FBI that she tried to dissuade her husband from carrying out the attack.
She also said that she was with him when he bought ammunition and a holster, and she drove her husband to Pulse nightclub to survey it before the shootings took place.