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North Carolina Residents React To Orlando Shooting

WUNC | By Will Michaels,
Anita Rao, Charlie Shelton, Laura Lee, Phoebe Judge
Published June 13, 2016 at 12:37 PM EDT

Just one day after the deadliest mass shooting in American history, many questions remain.

Thus far, investigators have confirmed that on Sunday morning, alleged shooter Omar Mateen attacked a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 people and injuring 53 others. According to reports, Mateen pledged his allegiance to ISIS in a 911 call during the attack but no direct link has been confirmed between him and the terrorist group.Guest host Phoebe Judge talks with a panel of experts about the Orlando shooting.

Ripples of this mass shooting have been felt throughout the nation, and individuals from both the Muslim-American and LGBTQ communities in North Carolina are responding to the varied implications of this attack.

Guest host Phoebe Judge talks with Tabor Winstead, a former employee of Pulse, the attacked Orlando club, and WUNC Reporter Jorge Valencia.Tabor Winstead, a former employee of Pulse, talks about his reaction to news of the mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub where he once worked.

Judge also talks about the LGBTQ community response with Helena Cragg, the chair of the LGBTQ Center of Durham. She discusses terrorism and responses from the Muslim-American community with Omid Safi, the director of the Islamic Studies Center at Duke University, and Charles Kurzman, the co-director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations.

Judge ends the conversation discussing criminal justice and gun regulations with Geoff Bennett, senior Washington reporter for Time Warner Cable News and Chris Herring, professor of criminal justice at North Carolina Central University.

Several organizations are holding vigils this week:

  • Interfaith and community candlelight vigil, By Triangle Community of Raleigh, Community Peace Project and Islamic Association of Cary, Monday, 7:45 pm, 1076 W. Chatham St. Cary, NC 27511 (Contact Phone: 630-335-2846)
  • Candlelight / prayer vigil, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Monday, 7:00 pm, 1801 Hillsborough St, Raleigh, NC 27605, Imam Abdullah Antepli from Duke University and Rabbi Larry Bach from Durham will speak.
  • Vigilia por las victimas del club Pulse/Vigil for the Victims of Pulse nightclub, by LGBTQ Center of Durham, Tuesday, 8:00 pm, the bar, 711 Rigsbee Ave, Durham, NC 27701.
Tabor Winstead, left, a former employee of Pulse, the gay club in Orlando where 49 people died in a mass shooting on June 12, 2016.
Photo courtesy of Tabor Winstead /
Tabor Winstead, left, a former employee of Pulse, the gay club in Orlando where 49 people died in a mass shooting on June 12, 2016.
North Carolina Residents React To Orlando Shooting

Inside Pulse, the gay club in Orlando where 49 died in a mass shooting on June 12, 2016.
Photo courtesy of Tabor Winstead /
Inside Pulse, the gay club in Orlando where 49 died in a mass shooting on June 12, 2016.
Inside Pulse, the gay club in Orlando where 49 died in a mass shooting on June 12, 2016.
Photo courtesy of Tabor Winstead /
Inside Pulse, the gay club in Orlando where 49 died in a mass shooting on June 12, 2016.

Copyright 2016 North Carolina Public Radio
Will Michaels
Will Michaels started his professional radio career at WUNC.
See stories by Will Michaels
Anita Rao
Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.
See stories by Anita Rao
Charlie Shelton
Laura Lee
Laura Lee began her journalism career as a producer and booker at NPR. She returned to her native North Carolina to manage The State of Things, a live daily statewide show on WUNC. After working as a managing editor of an education journalism start-up, she became a writer and editor at a national education publication, Edutopia. She then served as the news editor at Carolina Public Press, a statewide investigative newsroom. In 2022, she worked to build collaborative coverage of elections administration and democracy in North Carolina.

Laura received her master’s in journalism from the University of Maryland and her bachelor’s degree in political science and J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
See stories by Laura Lee
Phoebe Judge
Phoebe Judge is an award-winning journalist whose work has been featured on a numerous national radio programs. She regularly conducts interviews and anchors WUNC's broadcast of Here & Now. Previously, Phoebe served as producer, reporter and guest host for the nationally distributed public radio program The Story. Earlier in her career, Phoebe reported from the gulf coast of Mississippi. She covered the BP oil spill and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina for Mississippi Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio. Phoebe's work has won multiple Edward R.Murrowand Associated Press awards. Phoebe was born and raised in Chicago and is graduate ofBennington Collegeand theSalt Institute for Documentary Studies.
See stories by Phoebe Judge