911 calls: 'Gunshots going like crazy' in Pulse nightclub

[webfact]

911 calls: 'Gunshots going like crazy' in Pulse nightclub

By MIKE SCHNEIDER

 

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Friends and relatives of patrons trapped in a gay Florida nightclub where a mass shooting left 49 people dead asked police dispatchers why it was taking so long for their loved ones to be rescued.

 

Audio recordings of 911 calls released Tuesday by the Orange County Sheriff's Office show mounting frustration by friends and family members who were texting, calling and video-chatting with trapped patrons of the Pulse nightclub where Omar Mateen opened fire in June.

 

"My son was shot in the club. ... He is still in the bathroom. He is bleeding, and he got shot and nobody is going in for him," said one caller to 911, almost three hours after the shooting began. "Nobody is doing anything for him."

 

The dispatcher told him that a SWAT team was about to go inside the nightclub.

 

More than an hour and a half after the shooting started, another man called dispatchers a second time, clearly frustrated that his ex-girlfriend hadn't been rescued from a bathroom where she was trapped with almost 20 others, including two dead people.

 

"People are shot and dead. ... Are you guys sending anybody there?" the man said. "They are all scared to death, and they all think they are going to die."

 

The caller then said that his ex-girlfriend was texting that the gunman was there. The dispatcher told him to text back, asking if his ex-girlfriend meant in the bathroom or the club in general.

 

"She's not answering," he said. He waited for more than five minutes on the line with the dispatcher, getting no response from his ex-girlfriend, before the dispatcher told him she needed to free up the line.

 

The sheriff's office took overflow 911 calls when Orlando Police Department dispatchers were inundated. The recordings show sheriff's dispatchers mostly got busy signals when they tried to transfer calls back to police.

 

The Orlando Police Department has yet to release its 911 calls. About two dozen news media companies including The Associated Press are suing for access to these public records as well as the communications between Mateen and the Orlando Police Department, during which authorities say Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

 

The media groups argue that the recordings will help the public evaluate the police response, but the city of Orlando claims the recordings are exempt under Florida public records law, and that the FBI insists releasing them may disrupt the ongoing investigation.

 

Mateen was killed by a police SWAT team after firing at the officers, ending a standoff that had lasted for more three hours. In addition to the fatalities, 53 club goers were hospitalized.

 

In explaining the timeline of the police response, Orlando Police Chief John Mina has said the shooting became a hostage situation, requiring officers to "re-evaluate, reassess what is happening and make sure all the pieces are in place."

 

The sheriff's dispatchers sound calm and sympathetic on the 911 calls. They took down names and identifying traits or clothes, and told callers to tell their relatives or friends to stay in place until officers and deputies at the scene could rescue them. The dispatchers also told callers that officers and deputies were pulling patrons out of the club.

 

"What I need him to do is just stay where he is and don't have him do anything or go anywhere until deputies or officers clear the area," a dispatcher told a mother who was texting her son in the bathroom, about 20 minutes after the shooting started.

 

Another dispatcher urged a caller not to call or return a text from his friend, who had been shot three times and was hiding in a bathroom.

 

"Because if he has the phone ringing, making noise or something, we don't know anything about anything, so at this point, we don't want any noise around," the dispatcher said.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-31

[ClutchClark]

Lets face it.

 

Everybody hates cops. Cops actions are going to be considered wrong by 90% of the public no matter what the action is.

 

 

[ClutchClark]

Another dispatcher urged a caller not to call or return a text from his friend, who had been shot three times and was hiding in a bathroom.

 

"Because if he has the phone ringing, making noise or something, we don't know anything about anything, so at this point, we don't want any noise around," the dispatcher said.

 

That certainly sounds like some good advice from the Dispatcher.

[ClutchClark]

If you ever find yourself in a situation like this and you cannot exit the building then don't call and text your friends to tell them about your situation (as it appears many of the club goers did in this terrorist incident). 

 

Call 911 and provide Intel to Law Enforcement. 

 

 

[HLover]

If you ever find yourself in a situation like this and you cannot exit the building then don't call and text your friends to tell them about your situation (as it appears many of the club goers did in this terrorist incident). 

 

Call 911 and provide Intel to Law Enforcement. 

 

 

And pack a lunch as they will take hours to save you.

[ClutchClark]

Just now, HLover said:

And pack a lunch as they will take hours to save you.

 

Apparently you do not understand that Law Enforcement was concerned the terrorists had explosives and when the terrorists came under attack they would use these explosives to cause maximum damage to life and limb of the hostages. 

 

This  will require critical thinking skills on your part but try and tell us how you would have handled this situation. 

 

 

[Rancid]

Probably easy to jump to conclusions as to why the response was slow to a gay nightclub, but expect the coppers were doing their best to minimize deaths in any assault. If they attacked quickly and there was a high death toll they would also be crucified.

[ClutchClark]

3 minutes ago, Rancid said:

Probably easy to jump to conclusions as to why the response was slow to a gay nightclub, but expect the coppers were doing their best to minimize deaths in any assault. If they attacked quickly and there was a high death toll they would also be crucified.

 

And they would very likely have suffered police casualties as the were going up against a well-armed hostile group of unknown size and who very likely had explosives.

 

They based their decisions on PAST events. Police Response tactics are not created in a vacuum. The procedures and protocol are designed after long analysis and review of similar past events and FBI phycologists reports on how different orgsnizations operate as well as a mulitude of other data.  It is constantly being reviewed after every such incident.

 

As with any terrorist event, there are going to be unknowns. You train to respond with a goal of hostage safety, officer safety, and if possible, bringing in the bad guys alive to stand trial. 

 

Any suggestion that officers might have delayed action because the club was a gay club is ridiculous. Law Enforcement is equally represented by the LGBTI community as anyplace else. Even if an officer is not a member of that community they knowingly have loved ones that are. The bottom line is they are trsined professionals and such things are no part of the decision making process. 

 

One thing is certain, the emergency response to this tragic event was already being reviewed with a fine tooth comb before the dust had even settled and modifications to the the SOP were already being hashed around and some of those will no doubt become part of future CERT responses to crisis response. 

 

 

[HLover]

 

Apparently you do not understand that Law Enforcement was concerned the terrorists had explosives and when the terrorists came under attack they would use these explosives to cause maximum damage to life and limb of the hostages. 

 

This  will require critical thinking skills on your part but try and tell us how you would have handled this situation. 

 

 

Nice reply, since your such an expert, I'll leave the armchair tactics to you.
A 3 hour breech time is unacceptable.
Explosives found or just a WMD type of excuse for a botched operation?
I have not hear the 911 transcription or the radio traffic from the event, I'll wait for the facts but thank you for your insight and your critical thinking showmanship.

[ClutchClark]

21 minutes ago, HLover said:

Nice reply, since your such an expert, I'll leave the armchair tactics to you.
A 3 hour breech time is unacceptable.
Explosives found or just a WMD type of excuse for a botched operation?
I have not hear the 911 transcription or the radio traffic from the event, I'll wait for the facts but thank you for your insight and your critical thinking showmanship.
 

 

That sounds real good HL. 

So we won't be hearing from you for awhile then.

Right-o.

[HLover]

yawn

Enjoy your inefficient police state, your paying for it - not me.

[dick dasterdly]

3 hours ago, Rancid said:

Probably easy to jump to conclusions as to why the response was slow to a gay nightclub, but expect the coppers were doing their best to minimize deaths in any assault. If they attacked quickly and there was a high death toll they would also be crucified.

Not sure what it being a gay nightclub has to do with it, but I agree that the police had to be careful before charging in - which could have resulted in even more deaths.

[HLover]

Not sure what it being a gay nightclub has to do with it, but I agree that the police had to be careful before charging in - which could have resulted in even more deaths.

Agreed, just 3 hours seems a bit long but I'm not an expert.

[Rimmer]

A troll post has been removed

[Dumbastheycome]

Amazing !  No references to Muslims  ( yet)! So this will be deemed a > terrorist  like<  rather than a terrorist event !

My sympathy  to all victims  and  survivors but at the  same time no sympathy  for a  social/cultural product.

Reap what you sow .