Like many queens living and performing in the Orlando area, Axel Andrews – Roxxxy Andrew’s drag daughter saw Pulse Nightclub as a second home. She’d been performing there for seven years and unfortunately, was there during the mass shooting. The Hollywood Reporter spoke with her to hear her horrifying – but luckily – survival story.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
When did you realize it wasn’t music? Did you see the gunman?
I did not see the gunman. To be honest, the noise was so loud, it sounded like it was on top of me. Your first reaction is to get down. It literally felt like the gunman was next to me. The other bartender ran toward me and we were both lying down, but there was still a question if it was fake. Some of us thought it might be fireworks. Even at one point a girl who was hiding with us jumped up and, very drunkenly, was like, “This is fake, this isn’t real.” She almost made us believe her. Then the gunshots kept going. I remember lying on my back looking at the ceiling. I remember feeling like the gunshots were on top of me but they were getting louder and closer. At that point we all ran for our lives. I ran toward the back of the room. I don’t know what made me think… there’s a back alley and I could have ran to the back alley and out through the parking lot, but I panicked and went into a dressing room. It had a lock on the door you needed a code for. I put the code in quicker than I’ve ever done it, and by the time I was in there, I noticed there were already people in there — one of them being Angelica Sanchez, our main entertainer at Pulse. She was just out having a good time; I don’t think she was working that night. She was terrified. At first it seemed there were only five of us in there, but then it came out there were eight of us; they were just hiding really well.
How long were you in the room?
We were in there for hours. I don’t know what happened, but I got into survival mode. Maybe because I didn’t see the gunner, I still kind of doubted it — I was scared — but I tried to think what I’d do if he came in the room. Everyone was hiding, but I stood on a chair beside the door and I picked up the heaviest chair in the room and held it above my head for a while, waiting for him to open the door. I was going to try to hit him with it. I stood there for a while and realized there wasn’t much noise for a little bit. Maybe five, 10 minutes, but I’ll be honest, my timeframe was totally off — it could have been two minutes or 20.
So you were prepared.
Everyone else was hiding. The way I saw it, someone firing off so many shots, he couldn’t have been selectively shooting. I figured if he came in, he wouldn’t even blink before shooting all of us, so I figured I’d prepare myself and maybe damage him or stop him before he could just pick us off like fish in a barrel.
We’re happy she’s safe! Read the rest of the interview here.
The post Roxxxy’s Drag Daughter Axel Andrews Tells Her Pulse Nightclub Survival Story appeared first on The WOW Report.
The wife of gunman Omar Mateen could face charges as soon as Wednesday. A law enforcement source told Reuters that Noor Salman, could face criminal charges.
