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Orlando Shooting: J.K. Rowling Sent Flowers To Funeral Of Victim Who Worked At Harry Potter Theme Park

By Patricia Grannum
Published on: 14:24 PST, Jun 18, 2016

J.K. Rowling sent a wreath of flowers to one of the 49 victims of the Orlando shooting, Us Weekly reports.

Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, sent the flowers to Luis Velma’s funeral on Friday, June 17. According to Us Weekly, she also sent a handwritten note which said, “To Luis, who died for love. You will never be forgotten.”

Velma worked at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a theme park at Universal Studios in Orlando. He was one of the workers on the Harry Potter And The Forbidden Journey ride.

Rowling had previously expressed a deep sense of grief on learning that one of the victims of the Orlando shooting worked at the Harry Potter theme park. She tweeted about Luis Velma’s death on June 13.

According to Us Weekly, Universal Studios also extended their condolences to Luis Velma’s family via a written statement.

“We are deeply saddened over the loss of our team member. We are working to support his friends and colleagues here at Universal Orlando. Our thoughts and prayers are with Luis, his family and all the victims of this tragedy.”

Some of Rowling’s followers who knew Luis Velma from his job at The Wizarding World tweeted fond memories of him.

Entertainment Weekly reports that staff at the Harry Potter theme park and guests also created a heartwarming tribute to Luis Velma, straight out of a scene from one of the movies. Workers and attendees raised their wands in tribute to Velma outside of the theme park during a vigil on June 13. A video of the event was posted on YouTube.

“Tonight, we raise our wands to one of the greatest and best Gryffindors the world has ever known,” one of Velma’s friends says at one point. “Tonight, we raise our wands to Luis Velma. He was brave, and he was one of the kindest souls you will ever meet in your life.”

As funerals for the Orlando shooting victims begin to take place in Orlando, new details about the shooting are still coming to light

CNN reports that the shooter, Omar Mateen, may have texted his wife while he was murdering victims at the nightclub. According to CNN, A law enforcement official close to the investigation revealed this information to the press.

Apparently, on the morning of June 12, about two hours after he started shooting, Mateen texted his wife to ask her if she had seen the news. His wife, Noor Salman, texted back and told Mateen that she loved him.

Another law enforcement official stated that Salman also tried to call her husband numerous times during the Pulse nightclub attack. Her calls were made after reports of the attack had made it to the news, CNN reports. It seems that Noor Salman had a strong suspicion that her husband was responsible when she saw the news of the Orlando shooting on television.

According to CNN, it’s still hard to say whether Salman tried to report her husband to the authorities.

Noor Salman’s role in the planning and execution of the Pulse nightclub shooting is still unclear. So far, she has given inconsistent reports of how much she knew about what Omar Mateen was planning, CNN reports. She did tell police that Mateen spent thousands of dollars on guns and ammunition, in the weeks leading up to the Orlando shooting.

She could end up facing charges for the attack as well. According to CNN, a U.S. attorney is putting together evidence in the case with the intention of presenting said evidence to a grand jury. The grand jury would then decide whether charges will be filed or not.

Omar Mateen also posted on Facebook during the massacre, CNN reports. Here’s what he wrote:

“America and Russia stop bombing the Islamic state. You kill innocent women and children by doing us airstrikes… now taste the Islamic state vengeance.”

[Photo by Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images]

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