BOSTON (WHDH) - A Boston restaurant manager spoke with 7News about his time working at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub and his memories of the club before the weekend’s tragic mass shooting.
Eric Shippie lived in Orlando back in 2002 and ran a cleaning business. Pulse was one of his clients. Shippie called the club “a beautiful place” and was there the night it opened. He said the club was often packed during Pride Month in June.
“That was the place to be for this month in particular,” said Shippie.
Shippie recalled the club being more like a compound, with multiple dark rooms and loud music. He said the victims likely had no chance once the shooting began.
“I’m sure that night, the place was completely packed,” said Shippie. “I’m sure it was the worst night for this to happen. He picked the right place, unfortunately, to do what he had to do.”
The gunman was holed up inside one of Pulse’s five bathrooms with a few hostages once SWAT teams moved in. Since the club has no windows, SWAT teams got inside by breaking through a wall with an armored vehicle.
Shippie left Orlando in 2005 and now manages a restaurant in West Roxbury. Despite being gone from Orlando for so long, he said the shooting still hits close to home.
“I’m grateful to be alive, because I could’ve been there this weekend,” said Shippie.
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