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Police used explosives to try to breach the exterior cinder block wall of a bathroom where a dozen or so people were hiding, near another bathroom where Mateen had holed up with several hostages.Īccording to public records, Mateen had possessed a valid firearm license since September 2011. approached, those inside had been trapped for nearly three hours, some wounded and bleeding, calling police from their cellphones and pleading for help. As clubgoers were being rescued, they told police the shooter had threatened to put bomb vests on four people within 15 minutes.Īs 5 a.m. (Right) Law enforcement personnel respond.Īt 3:58 a.m., the Orlando Police Department's Twitter account warned residents to stay away from the area.Īt 4:21 a.m., police cleared a way for some people trapped inside the club to escape by dislodging an air conditioning unit from a Pulse dressing room window. (Left) Bystanders wait down the street from Pulse. (Top) Orlando police officers direct family members away from the Pulse nightclub in Orlando on the night of the attack. Mateen is also believed to have spent time online during his siege of the club, checking Facebook and searching for "Pulse Orlando" and "shooting." He called a friend. Searches inside and outside the club failed to turn up these items, investigators said. Mateen identified himself as "an Islamic soldier," according to the FBI, and threatened to detonate explosives, including a car bomb and a suicide vest - the kind "used in France," he said, referring to the terrorist attacks in Paris last November. He had a second conversation with them at 3:03 a.m. "My name is I pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State."Īt 2:48 a.m., the gunman - whose name was Omar Mir Seddique Mateen - spoke with crisis negotiators from the Orlando police. "I wanna let you know, I'm in Orlando and I did the shootings," the gunman told the operator during this 50-second call, according to a transcript released by the FBI.
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In Songs, Stories, Latino And LGBT Voices On How The Orlando Attack Feels Personal The legislation also faces long odds in the chamber.U.S. We must drive out hate and inequities that contribute to the epidemic of violence and murder against transgender women - especially transgender women of color.”īiden also called on the Senate to “swiftly” pass the Equality Act, which would bar discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity. “We must also acknowledge gun violence’s particular impact on LGBTQ+ communities across our nation. “Pulse Nightclub is hallowed ground,” Biden said in the statement. Since the shooting, Biden has “stayed in touch” with survivors and victims families, he said in the statement Saturday.īiden said in the statement that he will soon sign a bill that will make the nightclub a national memorial. To mark the five-year anniversary of the mass shooting, the victims are being honored with a number of events, including a remembrance ceremony Saturday. Biden also called on the Justice Department to put forward “model” red flag law legislation, which it issued earlier this week.Ī lone shooter at the gay Florida club killed 49 people in June 2016, when Biden was serving as vice president. In April, Biden went it alone on gun reform, issuing executive actions to slow gun violence, including reforms aimed at reining in so-called ghost guns, and ordering the DOJ to produce a new annual report on gun trafficking.
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At least 13 people were injured in a shooting in Austin, Texas, early Saturday. Biden has repeatedly called for gun reform legislation in the wake of mass shootings this year, including ones in Indianapolis and San Jose, Calif.