Orlando PD Reveals New Details About Pulse Nightclub Tragedy
20 Club Goers "Didn't Have A Chance To React" - Orlando Sentinel
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The June 12, 2016 shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida was the worst mass shooting in United States history and rocked thousands across the world, whether they identified along the LGBTQ spectrum or not. Things were so horrific that an officer, when he entered the area where people covered the dance floor after the shooting, said, "if you’re alive, raise your hand.”
This, according to Orlando Police Chief John Mina, who has given some 10 presentations about that tragic night to police forces worldwide. The Orlando Police Department has been criticized by some survivors and family members of the victims because they didn't breach the nightclub until well into gunman Omar Mateen's attack. Mina said he chose to not send his personnel into the nightclub until Mateen said that he had hostages strapped with bombs in every corner of the nightclub.
Mina said that he also regretted the decision to publicly release the names of the 13 officers involved during the Pulse tragedy, as it led to them effectively being "stalked" on social media with people peppering them with questions about what happened that night. There also appears to be uncertainty about whether or not there were any civilians hit by friendly fire when police did arrive on scene.
A communication breakdown between the police department, the Orlando Fire Department and Orange County Fire Rescue is cited as part of the delay in getting into Pulse, but Mina acknowledged that even with the communication breakdown, where no one from either the Orlando Fire Department or Orange County Fire Rescue was a part of the police department's command center.
“Would that have saved any more lives? No. The people who needed care got care,” Mina told the Orlando Sentinel. “But the communication would have been better between our two agencies if someone from the fire department would have been in our command post.”
It seems that the reason why Mina has been making presentations about the Pulse horror from June 12, at least from the law enforcement standpoint, is to convey the lessons learned by law enforcement from the tragedy.
While it took some time for law enforcement to breach the nightclub to take down the gunman, police responded to the scene within six minutes, about one minute and 20 seconds after off-duty police officer Adam Gruler, who was working security that night, called for backup. Before the night ended, there were some 300 officers on scene, securing the building.
Mina's presentation included floor layouts of the nightclub, photos of the various areas where the victims were found, and in general, the teachable moments that the Orlando Police Department picked up from such a horrific incident in the hopes that other police departments across the globe will learn from what law enforcement in Orlando went through.
Amazingly, only one officer was injured; his Kevlar helmet saved his life. Officer Michael Napolitano survived the siege after sustaining a shot to the head area; his helmet cracked from the bullet, but it was enough to leave only a bruise on Napolitano's head.
Some 27 agencies responded to the carnage that unfolded that night; the FBI investigation is still ongoing, with some 300 subpoenas still active.
"We leave no stone unturned," said FBI spokesperson Andrea Aprea.
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Christina St-Jean
I'm a high school English and French teacher who trains in the martial arts and works towards continuous self-improvement.
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