‘THEY TOOK TOO DAMN LONG’
Four of them entered the building through one patio, while six others shot out a window to get inside.
Among the 10 officers who went into Pulse, some had powerful military-style rifles and one had a shield.
At least two had tactical experience.
Police fired at Mateen when he popped his head out of one the bathrooms. .
But then, police decided not to pursue him.
The new details raise questions not to follow Mateen into the bathroom proved critical. Because Mateen was not subdued or killed sooner,
final standoff, in which police initially failed to breach the club wall and struggled to make entry, Mateen apparently shot more victims, according to witnesses.
At least five people were alive in the bathrooms when the standoff began and ultimately died at the club,
Witnesses in the women’s bathroom said Mateen killed at least three people during the final moments
.........If they had moved faster they would have gotten us out of there and everybody could have possibly lived.”
.
“He went from an active shooter to a barricaded gunman,”
.....will join a grim catalogue of assessments that sought to learn lessons from attacks in Aurora, Colo.; at the Washington Navy Yard; and at Virginia Tech.
“The highest priority is to eliminate the threat,” said Dan Oates, who was the police chief in Aurora w
Oates declined to comment on the Orlando shooting ..... “If the best information is the shooter is on the fourth floor, you get to the fourth floor. If you run into the bad guy, you better be ready to deal with it.”
...........able to move around the space quickly. ... contains less than 5,000 square feet.
............he returned to the main room.-----returned to the back room, shooting...a third time, he walked into the main room,
By 2:10 a.m., at least 10 officers had entered the club.
. One who entered through the east patio said he heard shots, while another said that was not the case.
A group of six officers, including Officer Brandon Cornwell, had entered the club by busting out a window.
............he saw two other officers shooting down a hallway.
...........It was not clear whether Mateen fired at police during this encounter.
2:18 a.m., police seemed to have control of the club’s main room,
“people are bleeding out in the bathroom.”
...........air conditioning unit ....eight people escaped
............
..........failed attempt probably signaled to Mateen that police were coming.
Minutes passed as officers tried to ram the right opening
“We were already at great risk, but … they made it worse,” Parker said. “They put us at more risk.”
.
.............when police ordered people away from the wall ..... shot several more people.
...........punched a hole between the two bathrooms, but they had picked the wrong spot. In a third attempt
Mateen emerged
“I was getting burned up by the bullets bouncing from everywhere,”
..............dozen or so dead in the bathrooms.
.............during the standoff, they were continuously taking victims out of the club from the main room and bringing them to medical help outside.
............if this had been a college campus or mall, emergency fire and rescue personnel would have come into the building. But this was a relatively small building that police cleared quickly.
“There wasn’t a need” for paramedics to enter the building,....easily able to get people to aid.”...
go to the shooter, and do not wait for special teams
............., rescue personnel respond to what we call “warm zones” (where contact with the shooter or shooters is not likely to occur) so they can quickly enter, locate, treat, and evacuate casualties.”
.............officials do not know ....s who were alive during the prolonged standoff later died in the bathrooms or how many had survivable gunshot wounds.
total of 14 officers fired their weapons at Pulse.
Orlando police say 11 of their officers fired, . Three Orange County sheriff’s deputies also fired.
..............decision not to follow Mateen into the bathroom was a gamble,
“Cops are paid to take risks but not stupid risks,” No casualties are acceptable.”
....rule for law enforcement, he said, is, “Don’t make things worse.”
“We don’t want cops to be cowboys,”
“I have no regrets in the decisions that my officers and commanders on the ground made and I have no regret with the decision I made either,” he said.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nation-and-world/survivors-pulse-nightclub-shooting-say-orlando-police-took-too-damn-long-act?
