An employee of the Doral bar where Saturday's deadly mass shooting happened is speaking out about the violence that unfolded when his coworker was killed and police were involved in a shootout with the suspect.
The member of Martini Bar's security team spoke to NBC6 on Monday on condition of anonymity.
"All of us there are a family and we were all friends, so it is unfortunate that it happened," said the security guard who witnessed the shooting.
Although it's illegal in Florida to carry a weapon at a bar, police said Jamal Wood pulled out a gun at Martini Bar Doral, shot and killed George Castellanos, and then got into a shootout with officers, leading to injured bystanders.
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According to the man who works security at the bar, it is protocol at Martini Bar to check for weapons at the door.
"All the men get patted down on their waist, on their chest, on their backs, on their legs, feet," he said. "They get patted down everywhere, and then the women's purses are checked, too."
The employee, however, said on Friday night, there was a change of staff.
"Our main pat-down guy that we've had for the past three or four years, he wasn't there Friday night for the first time," he said. "It was a brand new guy that was there."
According to this employee, Castellanos and others in the security team were not armed. He said as head of security, Castellanos tried to defuse the situation, but Wood began shooting indiscriminately.
"The entire time he was shooting, he was shooting randomly at whoever would lay his hand on him first, and he was just shooting completely," the employee said. "He let out like 15 shots."
Doral Mayor Christi Fraga has called an emergency meeting on Wednesday to review the incident reports from the shooting. She plans to propose a change to the city ordinance.
"I think it is just appropriate that we revisit the ordinance that allows nightclubs and bars to be open until 3:59 a.m. This is something I inherited, that code has been established since 2007, but I think it is time, more so just seeing our community is very family-oriented," Mayor Christi Fraga said.
