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By Elisha Fieldstadt, Tim Stelloh, Corky Siemaszko and The Associated Press

They were a cross-section of Americans living it up at an Orlando club — professionals who plied their trades in the city's gleaming towers, 20-somethings who worked in nearby amusement parks. They were tourists passing through town and regulars greeting old friends.

Then, suddenly, gunfire ripped through the gay nightclub and turned them into something else — victims of the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.

Here are their stories.