An impatient Florida driver crashed into two Orlando-area deputies Saturday when she tried to drive through the funeral procession for one of the Pulse nightclub shooting victims, officials said.
The two Osceola County deputies — who were on motorcycles while protecting the somber morning procession — were rushed to the hospital after the crash. One is in serious but stable condition and the other is stable, Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Kim Montes told the Daily News.
The funeral motorcade was traveling from a church to a grave site in Kissimmee, just south of Orlando, when the woman tried to bypass the procession around 11:30 a.m., Montes said.
An impatient Florida driver hit two deputies when she tried to cut through the funeral procession for one of the Orlando club shooting victims.
The testy driver, a woman in a 1997 Honda, saw a gap in the passing traffic and decided to try to cut through, but hit the two deputies, who were driving from intersection to intersection along the route to keep the road clear for the funeral vehicles.
“This was not on purpose. This was someone who got impatient,” Montes said.
On June 12, 2016, 49 beautiful, young lives were taken in the worst mass shooting in American history. They were among hundreds who flocked to Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida for a night of dancing and fun that quickly turned into a nightmare.
Charges against the woman — who was not injured in the crash but was taken to the hospital for an evaluation — are pending, Montes said.
"She is at fault in this crash," Montes said. "You can’t pull out in a funeral procession."
Neither the driver nor the injured deputies have been identified. It’s not clear which shooting victim the funeral was for.
Funerals for the 49 people killed in the Sunday morning attack on the gay nightclub began earlier this week.
Mourners packed the Osceola Memory Gardens Funeral Home Thursday to remember 37-year-old Kimberly "KJ" Morris, who had only worked at Pulse nightclub for about a month before the devastating gun massacre. On the same day and not far away, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo was honored at Funeraria San Juan. The 20-year-old was one of the youngest victims.
More funerals were held Friday, including a joint ceremony for longtime couple Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon and Jean Carlo Mendez-Perez. Dozens more services are planned for the coming days.
The early Sunday morning massacre marked the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. Gunman Omar Mateen stormed the lounge around 2 a.m. and opened fire. He killed 49 people and wounded another 53 before cops fatally shot him.
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