As Orlando continues to recover from the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, more names of  people who were killed at the Pulse nightclub are emerging in the retelling of a sad but constant tale of gun violence in America. Meanwhile, the father of the gunman Omar Mateen expressed his own grief over what happened early Sunday morning.

The victims, who simply went out to Pulse, a popular gay nightclub, to party during Latin night at the club but wound up felled by bullet from an AR-15 wielded by Mateen. Among them, Eddie Justice, 30, who sent a text to his mother, Mina, that there was a shooter and that he and others were trapped in the bathroom with him, according to the Associated Press. “He’s coming,” Justice texted. “I’m gonna die.” Justice was later confirmed as one of the 50 dead at the club, including Mateen who was killed by police.

The names of seven of the victims were released by Sunday evening. They are: Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34; Stanley Almodovar III,  23; Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20; Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22; Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36;  Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22; and Luis S. Vielma, 22, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Other names will continue to emerge as victims families are given notice, and will be posted on cityoforlando.net/victims.

Thirty-nine of the dead were killed at the club, and the others died at hospitals, the mayor said. By Monday morning, families of 24 of the victims had been notified, Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer said.

At least 53 people were hospitalized, most in critical condition, and a surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center said the death toll was likely to climb.

Jon Alamo had been dancing for hours when he wandered into the club’s main room just in time to see the gunman. “You ever seen how Marine guys hold big weapons, shooting from left to right? That’s how he was shooting at people,” he said.

“My first thought was, ‘Oh, my God, I’m going to die,'” Alamo said. “I was praying to God that I would live to see another day.”

Mateen exchanged gunfire with 14 police officers at the club and took hostages at one point. In addition to the assault rifle, he had a handgun. Police Chief John Mina said officers held back for some time because Mateen indicated he had a bomb vest.

Mateen’s father, expressed shock over the act his son committed and spoke out publicly to condemn it.

The attack was “against my principles, against what I taught him,” said Seddique Mir Mateen to reporters. “I am as sad as the rest of the country.”

Read more at JETMag.com.