(WFLA) – Officials released calls made to emergency dispatchers the morning of the Orlando nightclub shooting.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office shared information about the calls received beginning shortly after 2 a.m. on June 12. Gunman Omar Mateen entered Pulse nightclub on Orange Avenue at that time, killing 49 people and wounding more than 50 others. The nature of the attack kept police from entering the club for about three hours, according to law enforcement. The victims trapped inside called 911 frantically hoping for help.
Dispatchers answered calls for hours. News Channel 8 received the records through WESH, the Orlando NBC affiliate.
The calls reveal the despair and agony of those inside – and their loved ones waiting for word on the outside. People with gunshot wounds begged for help, while parents and siblings on the outside searched for answers. These worried loved ones called 911, saying their significant others, siblings and children – who had been inside the club – were no longer responding.
Here are notes dispatchers made during the course of the night:
At 2:05 a.m. a dispatcher noted the shooting, saying there were “multiple people down.” Just after, a caller said “they are continuing to fire.” And at 2:06 a.m. the dispatcher wrote about an “active shooter inside.”
Call-takers received reports about gunfire, with one man, at 2:09 a.m., saying he had run out of the club. By 2:11 a.m. dispatchers indicated the need for a wide perimeter around the club.
Soon after calls came from people suffering gunshot wounds. At 2:12 a.m. a dispatcher talked with a victim who had been shot in the chest and stomach. That victim was inside the bathroom at Pulse. In addition, a female victim told dispatchers at 2:13 a.m. she had been shot in the arm.
Multiple callers provided descriptions of the gunman, now identified as Mateen. A note from 2:13 a.m. includes a description of the gunman. The witness said he had more than one gun, and was wearing a fluorescent shirt with baggy shorts.
A caller at 2:16 a.m. hid in the back of the club and could apparently hear the gunman making his way in that direction. Dispatchers continued to hear the gunman yelling. During this time first responders worked to rescue survivors. They pulled wounded victims out of the club, according to a note from 2:21 a.m.
Chilling calls continued to come in. A female victim told dispatch her body was going numb. Another victim said she had been shot in the arm. She said her arm was losing feeling.
One caller at 2:21 a.m. had been on the phone with her brother who was in the club. She could hear a man’s voice yelling at everyone to get down.
Soon after at 2:22 a.m. a dispatcher noted the need for more crews to help get people out of the club.
During the attack injured people made their way to the bathroom. A note from 2:23 a.m. says people were bleeding out in the bathroom. Mateen would eventually hold people hostage in the bathroom, according to the calls.
Victims beg police to enter club during standoff
During the massacre callers begged law enforcement to enter the club. At 2:24 a.m. someone calls 911 pleading with police to come in. Just one minute later, a female victim also implores police to come inside the club and save her. During her call another woman can be heard screaming.
“They’re coming; they’re coming,” someone in the club told dispatch about the shooter at 2:32 a.m. At the same time, a woman told dispatch she was losing feeling in her leg. “I don’t want to die today,” she told the responder. An 18-year-old caller told dispatch at 2:36 a.m. she was losing her eyesight and feeling in her body.
Then, at 2:37 a.m. the shooter told someone to keep the lights on, according to the dispatch records.
By 3:25 a.m. call-takers were making note of the need for more space in an area hospital because victims from the club were on the way. The wounded victims flooded Orlando hospitals after the massacre. Shortly after 5 a.m. police shot and killed the gunman.
