ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando police and fire department officials followed procedure when they responded to the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, but communication failures impaired their response, according to an independent review.
WKMG reports the National Police Foundation interviewed dozens of fire department leaders, paramedics, dispatchers and call takers, as well as reviewing 911 calls, social media posts and news coverage, to compile the report.
On June 12, 2016, 49 people were killed and 53 wounded at the gay nightclub after Omar Mateen opened fire. He died in a shootout with police.
According to the report, during the first hour of the incident, "there was no one who assumed command outside the club to manage the overall operation as well as the staging and deployment of personnel and resources as they arrived on the scene."
The report says due to miscommunication between police and fire officials, as well as inside the fire department itself, the city's police chief was not told about the incident until "well after the suspect was neutralized."
The report also listed confusion about firefighters' duties that day. During the incident, the fire department within a block of the nightclub remained on lockdown under orders from the on-duty battalion chief.
They were awaiting a "safe to enter" signal before going to the scene.
The report also said confusion was caused by extra officers "self-deploying" to the scene. Instead of reporting to the command center, many officers went to the club and took positions outside. Others stood by and waited for instructions.
"According to OPD officers and Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) deputies inside the club and on the inner perimeter, they had never seen so many guns pointed at them and they questioned the necessity of having so many heavily armed officers in unnecessary positions when they could have been performing other critical functions."
The report also said when the sheriff's office and police breached the nightclub's walls to engage the suspect, the command center did not notify personnel it was about to occur, "leading to confusion among officers, deputies and other first responders when the charge was detonated.
"Many perimeter officers were caught off guard and were unprepared to assist injured survivors rescued by SWAT team officers as the assault was made."
The report overall is complementary to first responders' efforts, calling its findings "a call to action for our nation's elected officials and law enforcement and public safety leaders."
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