The Orlando Shooting | History Untold

THE ORLANDO NIGHT CLUB SHOOTING

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Trigger warning - this page contains graphic content and imagery, gun violence, hate crimes, death, and murder.

The Orlando Night Club Shooting was a horrific event in which a 29 year old man entered a gay nightclub named Pulse and opened fire.

On June 12th, 2016, Omar Marteen, a 29 year old man, entered a gay nightclub called Pulse in Orlando and opened fire. He killed 49 people and injured 53 more. He was shot and killed by police officers at the crime scene. It is the deadliest incident in the history of violence against LGBTQ+ people in the United States and the deadliest attack in the United States since the September 11 attacks in 2001. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in US history.

At around 2:00 AM, Omar Marteen arrived at Pulse. He went into the club and was armed with a semi automatic rifle and a semi automatic pistol. In less than five minutes, Marteen had fired approximately 200 rounds, pausing only to reload. He initially fired at patrons and then went inside the club and started to shoot at the people who were inside Pulse.

Initially people thought the sounds of the gun shots were fireworks, but quickly realised they were gunshots, and chaos erupted. Some went to hide, others ran for their lives, many were paralysed with fear. People describe the situation as terrifying and confusing. The situation was horrific, one of the most traumatic, shocking and deadly shootings in US history. Marteen fired all around the nightclub, and then went and fired shots into the bathrooms. He also claimed to have explosives, which only created more terror from those around him.

"Everyone get out of pulse and keep running." - Pulse's Facebook Page during the shooting.

Within 15 minutes, 100 OPD officers and the Orange County Sheriffs Office were dispatched to the scene. Emergency fire and medical services also arrived. Later, the SWAT team arrived and took over the operation.

By 2:35 AM, the police had managed to extract many of the people from the nightclub. Those who remained were hostages being held by Marteen and people hiding in the dressing rooms.

The last shot Marteen fired was between 2:10 and 2:18 AM. At 5:00 AM, fourteen SWAT officers shot and killed Marteen, after distracting and bringing him out with flashbangs.

Fifty people, including Mateen, died. 58 were injured. ORMC performed surgeries on 76 people. From the 49 who Mateen killed, there were over 200 gunshot wounds.