Brooklyn man identified as victim of nightclub shooting in Orlando

WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A Brooklyn man has been identified as being among the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting.

Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25, was added to the city of Orlando's official list Monday morning.

His uncle and a cousin are driving from Williamsburg to Florida to identify the body.

Rios worked with seniors and lived in Brooklyn with his grandmother in the housing complex where he grew up.

"You stole someone away from a bunch of people that cared and loved him so much," said the victim's cousin, Camille Castill. "You stole a lot of people away from our families."

Thursday Enrique called his cousin Eric Perez to say he was leaving for Orlando for a friend's birthday party.

"He said 'I'll be back Sunday before the Puerto Rican Day Parade and we'll talk then', and that was the last time we spoke," Perez said in an exclusive interview with Eyewitness News.

He tried calling and texting Enrique, but got no response. Then at around 7 Sunday morning, he got a call from one of his nephew's friends in Orlando, telling him they were all inside Pulse when the suspect went on his killing spree.

"He saw Enrique on the opposite side of the club, but there were so many people running out of the club, they lost track of each other," said Perez. "They lost track of each other, and he didn't see him anymore."

Eric said he hoped and prayed Enrique was injured and couldn't get in touch with him, but then came the word that he was dead.

"He didn't deserve this. There are probably other families who are going through the same thing but this was our family. I don't know what to do anymore," said Perez.

RELATED: These are the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando