Man hit in back in Orlando shooting played dead to survive

Published 3:27 pm Saturday, June 18, 2016

ORLANDO, Fla. — Felipe Marrero wakes up in his hospital bed at night still thinking he smells gunpowder, nearly a week after the shooting rampage at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

It’s just one of the ways the 30-year-old has suffered after being shot four times in his back and left arm during the attack last Sunday morning that left 49 victims dead and more than 50 wounded. The gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, also was killed in a firefight with police.

“It’s the same smell that was in the club that night,” Merrero said in an interview Friday from his hospital bed at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

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The shock among the city’s residents was turning to grief as families buried their loved ones in cemeteries across the city. With more funerals planned in coming days, the city adorned with “Orlando Strong” banners has been coming together to support each other.