Chilling 911 calls capture horror of Pulse club shooting
Chilling calls made to Orlando emergency services during the Pulse club massacre have been released.
49 people died and more than 50 were injured in the Orlando massacre on June 12, when a gunman opened fire during a Latin night at the Florida gay club. The majority of the victims were LGBT people of colour.
A portion of 911 calls made relating to the shooting were made public this week.
Some of the calls released come from contacts of people who were trapped in the nightclub at the time, and people who managed to make it outside.
One woman who called 911 had made it out of the club just in time – but her girlfriend was trapped inside.
The woman pleaded: “She’s freaking out right now… she says please tell the cops, tell the cops, tell the cops.”
Another caller asks for help after a friend got shot.
They told 911: “We called him because he posted on Facebook that he had got shot, so we said, ‘Is everything OK?’ He said, ‘Got shot three times.’ We said, ‘Where are you?’ And the response was ‘In bathroom, tell them to check the bathroom’.”
A spokesperson for Orlando Police said: “The FBI has approved these calls for release as they do not contain anything that is considered ‘active criminal investigative’ material.”
911 calls and transcripts are routinely released as a public record under Florida law.
More than 600 calls were made relating to Pulse, but only a portion have been approved for release.
27 media outlets are taking legal action against the city over its refusal to release all of the calls, amid confusion about the timeline of the incident.
The city has refused to release material that contains audio of people being shot or killed.
