“This morning, I have asked President Obama to declare an emergency so that the full resources of the federal government can be made available for all those impacted by this horrific massacre.” “Yesterday’s terror attack was an attack on our state and entire nation,” Mr. Obama to issue a federal emergency declaration for his state. Rick Scott of Florida said on Monday that he had asked Mr. 11, 2001, and the deadliest attack on a gay target in the nation’s history. It was the worst act of terrorism on American soil since Sept. Joel Figueroa and his friends “were dancing by the hip-hop area when I heard shots, bam, bam, bam,” he said, adding, “Everybody was screaming and running toward the front door.” Orlando Health, which has a network of medical facilities in the area, said 43 victims remained in the hospital, including six who would undergo operations on Monday. The authorities adjusted the death toll on Monday, saying that the 50 people killed included the gunman. “I cannot imagine being one of the parents or knowing your loved one may be among the deceased and waiting to find out,” Mr. And those who had already learned that their loved ones had died began to plan for funerals. And they were being fired upon, so that is all part of the investigation.”Īt hospitals and gathering spots nearby, relatives and friends of the clubgoers who remained unaccounted for began to lose hope that their loved ones had somehow survived. But I will say when our SWAT officers, about eight or nine officers, opened fire, their backdrop was a concrete wall. When asked during the news conference if there was a chance that people might have been struck by friendly fire or in the crossfire, Chief Mina said: “I will say that is all part of the investigation. “So the suspect came out of that hole himself armed with a handgun and a long gun and engaged in a gun battle with officers where he was ultimately killed.” SOUNDBITE (English) John Mina, Orlando Chief of Police: We used our armored vehicle, the Bearcat armoured vehicle, to punch a hole in that wall and defeat the wall.”Ĥ. The explosive breach did not penetrate the wall completely. I made the decision to commence the rescue operation and do the explosive breach. “Based on information we received from the suspect and from the hostages and people inside, we believed that further loss of life was imminent. Those additional officers made entry while the suspect was shooting, engaged in another gun battle with the suspect, forced him to stop shooting and retreat to the bathroom, where we believed he had several hostages.”ģ. Shortly after that, additional officers responded. He did engage in a gun battle with the suspect somewhere near one of the entrances.
At about 2 o’clock, he responded to shots fired. “We had an extra duty, off duty officer working Pulse nightclub in full police uniform. Transcript Orlando Police Chief Describes Attack Chief John Mina of the Orlando Police Department gave a timeline of the events in which officers on Sunday engaged and eventually killed the gunman, Omar Mateen, at Pulse nightclub. About 15 to 20 people were in another bathroom. Mateen, forcing him to retreat to a bathroom where officers believed he had four to five hostages. Additional officers rushed to the scene, he said, and entered the nightclub, where they engaged in a gun battle with Mr. citizen.”Ĭhief Mina said that an off-duty officer who had been working at Pulse responded to shots fired at about 2 a.m.
“He went against my principles as a father and as a U.S. “If I knew 1 percent about what he was doing, I would have called the F.B.I.,” the elder Mr. But on Monday, the father, teary-eyed, told reporters that he had no inkling of what was to come. Mateen said in a video he posted online that he believed that it was up to God to punish gays. His father, Seddique Mir Mateen, an Afghan immigrant, has said that he was particularly enraged by seeing a same-sex couple kiss, though the elder Mr. Mateen had a chilling history that included talking about killing people, beating his former wife and voicing hatred of minorities, gays and Jews most of his victims were gay, Latino, or both.