ICandy manager Scott McFerren got a frantic call around 4:30 a.m. the morning of Philadelphia Pride. It was his friend, Lance Keller, who had visited two days earlier and was then staying with other friends in New York.
Keller told McFerren that the group text used by employees of Pulse, a popular LGBT nightclub in Orlando, was being flooded with messages. Keller is a bartender at Pulse. McFerren managed Pulse for a few months last year before moving to Philadelphia to help care for his aging mother.
“It was just panic,” McFerren said, “not really knowing anything. But he’s getting all kinds of updates from staff.”
As the morning of June 12 wore on, McFerren said he was frightened by the details that emerged of the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. Authorities identified Omar Mateen as the shooter in an act of terrorism that left at least 49 people dead and 53 injured. Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 911 calls during the shooting, authorities said.
“You worry about your friends,” McFerren said. “You worry about the staff. It’s so surreal. Just luckily Lance came up Friday … and wasn’t in the club.”
“I know every nook and cranny from working there. It’s frightening to think of where the people were hiding.”
McFerren said he later learned that the bartender who was filling in for Keller while he was on vacation had been shot three times. The man survived, but McFerren shuddered to think of Keller just missing that fate.
McFerren interviewed and hired Keller to join the Pulse team. He said the two bonded over liking to goof around. McFerren added the employees at Pulse are like family. The brother of Pulse’s owner, Barbara Poma, died of AIDS-related complications, as had McFerren’s father. McFerren said Poma ran the bar in honor of her brother, who was gay.
Darryl Depiano, owner of ICandy, said he and his husband thought of purchasing Pulse two years ago. They visited and met with Poma, who Depiano described as a warm woman. The sale ended up not being a good fit for his business, Depiano said, but he continued to visit Pulse a number of times when he vacationed in Florida.
In the days since the shooting, McFerren said he’s been trying to get in contact with his other friends from Pulse.
“You can’t really get a hold of anybody,” he said. “Communication has broken down with everybody trying to call.”
McFerren said he found several updates on social media. He learned that one female friend, a bartender, hid under the ice bin for three hours until police entered and called out, “If anybody is alive in here, raise your hands over your head.” She was taken to safety.
A bar back McFerren knew, Victor Guanchez, also survived. McFerren saw a post on Facebook that said Guanchez was recovering in the hospital.
“It was the first time I really cried,” McFerren said. “But it was tears of being happy.”
Keller flies back to Orlando this week, McFerren said.
“He’s scared to death to go back,” McFerren added. Pulse “is a crime scene and a memorial now. But he desperately wants to go back and support his community.”