Orlando Shooting Attack

According to Mueller (2016), the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando on June 12, 2016, was the bloodiest shooting in American history committed by a single gunman. Omar Mateen, 29, the gunman, was to blame for the 49 fatalities and 53 injuries that occurred in just over three hours. According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (2016), he legally purchased a 9mm Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol on June 5 and a SIG Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle on June 4 for use in the terrorist attack. 2016 (Mueller). Mueller (2016) also states that before the attack, Mateen had been under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) after they discovered his claims of having friends and family members in al- Qaeda and Hezbollah as well as he had connections with the Boston Marathon bombers to his co-workers.

This investigation was opened in May of 2013. However, the investigation was closed because the FBI failed to verify the substance of his comments. It was after thorough investigations through interviewing employees, physical surveillance and record checks and was dismissed for seemingly not posing a significant threat to the United States.

Omar’s investigation was concluded in March 2014 after FBI officials failed to find a substantive relationship between Omar Mateen and Moner Mohammud Abu-Salha. The latter was an individual who had traveled to Syria and committed a suicide truck-bombing attack. The FBI sought to find a relationship between the two because they both attended the same mosque. (Mueller, 2016). With the investigation closed and no evidence showed that the FBI kept an eye on him.

However, on this fateful Sunday, at around two in the morning, Omar entered the Pulse gay club and opened fire, randomly killing people who were innocently enjoying themselves. He had a history of aggression and violent behavior because there had been a complaint made by his co-worker who found him aggressive and against blacks, women, and homosexuals. Moreover, his first wife divorced him due to his violent tendencies and acts towards her. (Chemlay, 2016) and (Mueller, 2016).

Law enforcement Response

It was fortunate that an off-duty security detective working security at pulse heard the shots fired by Omar and immediately called for back-up and ninety seconds later they began to arrive. (ABC News, 2017).

According to the Orlando Police Department report on the Pulse Nightclub Mass-shooting, Officer Reynolds was the first to arrive to offer back up to Detective Gruler who was the off-duty police detective working security at the club. Officer Gruler spotted Omar at the main dance floor area and started firing at him. This made Omar stop shooting at the innocent people in the dance floor.

The silence made officer Gruler advance into the club building and signaled the other officers present to follow him. Officer Gruler and three other officers went to engage the suspect while the Orlando police sergeant formed another team and entered the club through the patio and immediately began rescuing victims.

Gunshots were then heard from the west part of the club and officers rushed towards that side where Omar ran into a bathroom and hid there. This created time for other officers to remove critical victims out of the club and to emergency units.

At around 2:16 a.m., the Special Weapons and Tactics officers (SWAT team) were called in. It showed how the hostage situation had gone out of hand. 28 victims had been rescued in the first thirty minutes from when the shooting began. However, eight were still being held hostage in the bathroom with Omar while eight were hiding in the west dressing room and four in the north dressing room.

The next rescue operation was conducted at around 4.45 a.m. by SWAT team where the eight people hiding in the west room got to be pulled out through an air conditioner vent. The next people rescued were those on the southern side in which the SWAT team first tried an explosion on the wall which failed to create a large opening which made them use an armored vehicle to break the barrier.

They then proceeded to the north side where they also broke the wall, and the noise alerted Omar making him get out of his hiding place and begin shooting at the Swat team. This was around 5:15 a.m. The great concern expressed though about the whole rescue operation was that the police took time to engage Omar yet the victims trapped were bleeding out. The Orlando Police Chief, John Mina, however, responded by saying that the police officers did engage Omar efficiently to the point he sought barricade in the bathrooms. (Mueller, 2016).

However, the whole response by the police was quite adequate and in good time. They arranged themselves in different orders which proved to be effective as each team was able to help improve the situation. There are those who sought out Omar till he barricaded himself in the bathrooms, there are those who removed victims from the scene and to emergency services as well as the SWAT team that sought to eliminate victims who were trapped in areas deep within the club and nowhere near the front entrance.

Emergency responders

The Orlando Fire Department was among the first emergency responders to be identified by the Orlando Police Department report on the Pulse Nightclub Mass-shooting (2016) aside from the police officers from different departments.

Police Militarization

This is where police officers get specialized military training as well as use some of their equipment and gears. In response to the Orlando shooting, we can see how the SWAT team was able to do the rescuing of victims who were hiding in areas that were considered as hot zones because the shooter Omar was in close range to them.

As dented earlier, the first group of policemen to enter the club were not able to get to the shooter nor did they have the necessary equipment to bring down the south and northern walls to get victims trapped in this areas out. It is also clear that it is the SWAT team who managed to put down Omar yet the other police had engaged him in some rounds.

This shows that as much as this militarization of police may cause psychological trauma when they go searching people’s homes, their training equips them to carry out procedures that would not be possible for a regular police officer. For example in this incident, their armored vehicle was able to bring down walls that created exit ways for victims. (Orlando Police Department report, 2016.)

Conclusion

In conclusion, the response by Orlando police departments to the terrorist attack at Pulse club was immediate irrespective of the long duration they took to deal with the shooter. Their efforts seemed coordinated as each team sought to perform different tasks and credit should be given to them because they managed to make the killer barricade himself for two and a half hours. This was the time they used to rescue victims and find ways of saving the rest who had hidden in areas that were near the shooter.

However, in my opinion, the FBI should not have wholly stopped following up on Omar’s movements just because they found no tangible evidence that he was dangerous. The fact that he was deemed a disturbed man and a coworker, as well as his first wife, divorced him because of his violent behavior should have been substantive evidence to be concerned about his claims and his endeavors.

References

ABC News. (2017, July 1st). New body camera footage shows chaos, carnage inside Pulse nightclub: Part 1[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUHw1vNPgo

Chemaly S. (2016). In Orlando, as Usual, Domestic Violence Was Ignored Red Flag. Retrieved from http://peacewomen.org/sites/default/files/Rolling%20Stone.pdf

Mueller J. (2017). TERRORISM SINCE 9/11: The American Cases. Ohio State University: Ohio. Retrieved from https://politicalscience.osu.edu/faculty/jmueller/since.html

Orlando Police Department report on the Pulse Nightclub Mass-shooting. (2016). Retrieved fromhttps://media.clickorlando.com/document_dev/2017/04/13/Pulse%20Presentation%20Chief%20Mina%20-%20Redacted%20for%20Release_1492131632369_9440606_ver1.0.pdf