Cory Richards broke down crying Monday as he recalled becoming separated from his boyfriend, Enrique Rios, Jr., during the rampage in the Pulse nightclub.  “When everyone fell to the floor, I lost him,” Mr. Richards said by phone, sobbing so hard he struggled to speak. Mr. Rios, 25, died in the shooting.  The couple, both from New York City, had been dating for four or five months, Mr. Richards said.  “He was like the most loving person ever,” he said.  They had only just arrived in Orlando at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, excited for their first-ever vacation together, he said. Mr. Rios, from a big family in Brooklyn, worked as a home-health aide and went to college, while Mr. Richards, who lives in the Bronx, works at Dollar Tree, a discount variety store.  “The simple fact is that we came over here just to have fun,” Mr. Richards said.  At Pulse, “everyone was dancing and having fun.” The lively club had multiple rooms, and he and Mr. Rios hung out in the âhip hop room,â he said. Around 2 a.m., they were talking about leaving when they heard a couple loud pops that initially sounded like fireworks or music, Mr. Richards said.  “The third time it went off, in the room I was in, we all dropped to the floor,” he said. “When we fell to the floor, I couldnât see (Enrique). I was assuming he was next to me, assuming he was near me, thinking, âhe canât be that far away’.”  Suddenly, Mr. Richards saw a woman try to open a door to get outside, and then just “drop to the floor,” apparently wounded or dead. âThat is when it really hit me. They are actually shooting people,â he said.Everyone started to run out, but Mr. Richards couldnât see where Mr. Rios went. He yelled his name. As the crowd spilled outside, Mr. Rios was nowhere to be found.  Outside the club, those who escaped frantically called the cellphones of friends who were missing, Mr. Richards said.  Mr. Rios didnât answer his phone, but Mr. Richards could hear others talking to friends who were hiding in the bathrooms of the nightclub. Police were taking the phones, trying to give guidance directly to those inside, he said.  Mr. Richards kept calling until his phone died. The family spent most of Sunday uncertain about Mr. Riosâs fate, only learning late that night that he was among the dead.
At least 50 people were killed and dozens more were injured in a shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub early Sunday, the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. The alleged shooter was Omar S. Mateen, authorities said.