βΉοΈ Skipped - page is already crawled
| Filter | Status | Condition | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| HTTP status | PASS | download_http_code = 200 | HTTP 200 |
| Age cutoff | PASS | download_stamp > now() - 6 MONTH | 0.1 months ago |
| History drop | PASS | isNull(history_drop_reason) | No drop reason |
| Spam/ban | PASS | fh_dont_index != 1 AND ml_spam_score = 0 | ml_spam_score=0 |
| Canonical | PASS | meta_canonical IS NULL OR = '' OR = src_unparsed | Not set |
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| URL | https://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482322488/orlando-shooting-what-happened-update |
| Last Crawled | 2026-04-15 16:20:55 (3 days ago) |
| First Indexed | 2017-11-12 15:40:58 (8 years ago) |
| HTTP Status Code | 200 |
| Meta Title | Orlando Shooting: What Happened At The Pulse Nightclub Attack : The Two-Way : NPR |
| Meta Description | Thanks to police and FBI records and witness accounts, it's becoming clearer β if still impossible to comprehend β what transpired in Orlando in the early hours of June 12. |
| Meta Canonical | null |
| Boilerpipe Text | Vigils have been held around the country for the victims of the Orlando nightclub attack on June 12. Thousands of people, including Jennifer Ware (right) and Mary Ware, took part in a memorial in downtown Orlando a day after the massacre.
David Goldman/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
David Goldman/AP
Vigils have been held around the country for the victims of the Orlando nightclub attack on June 12. Thousands of people, including Jennifer Ware (right) and Mary Ware, took part in a memorial in downtown Orlando a day after the massacre.
David Goldman/AP
It's been two weeks since a gunman ended the lives of
49 victims
and injured dozens of others at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. As survivors heal and a
community embraces
the wounded and honors the dead, questions linger about what happened that night β and how the U.S. would respond after its
deadliest mass shooting
in recent history.
Many details of the attack still aren't known. But thanks to police and FBI records and witness accounts, it's become clearer β if still impossible to comprehend β
what transpired
in Orlando in the early hours of June 12, between 2:02 a.m. and 5:15 a.m. ET.
'All Hell Broke Loose'
The weekend had already started on a tragic note, with the death on Saturday morning of a former contestant on
The Voice.
Christina Grimmie had been shot
the night before as she signed autographs following a performance at an Orlando theater, and the city was struggling to come to terms with this violent crime.
Saturday night was Latin Night at Pulse, one of the city's best-known gay clubs, and the place was packed with patrons both gay and straight, young and not-so-young, from the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and elsewhere, having a good time, dancing salsa and bachata.
At 2:02 a.m., according to
an FBI timeline,
Orlando police received reports that multiple shots had been fired at Pulse. An off-duty officer was working there and "engaged in a gun battle" with the shooter,
said
Orlando Police Chief John Mina. "The suspect, at some point, went back inside the club, where more shots were fired," Mina said. Additional officers had arrived at 2:04 a.m. and entered Pulse four minutes later, exchanging fire with the attacker.
At 2:09 a.m., a warning appeared on the club's
Facebook page:
"Everyone get out of pulse and keep running."
Many did. But not everyone could.
As soon as
Angel Colon
heard the gunshots, he and his friends ran for their lives. But Colon was shot three times. He fell and was trampled. All around him, he heard shots and cries for help.
"I could just see him shooting at everyone and I can hear the [shots getting] closer, and I look over and he shoots the girl next to me," he said. "And I'm just there laying down and I'm thinking, 'I'm next. I'm dead.' "
Angel Colon was shot three times at Pulse. "I'm just there laying down and I'm thinking, 'I'm next. I'm dead,' " he said.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Angel Colon was shot three times at Pulse. "I'm just there laying down and I'm thinking, 'I'm next. I'm dead,' " he said.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
"Just all hell broke loose, people running for the door, jumping over the gates,"
said Ray Rivera,
also known as DJ Infinite, who'd been playing music that night in the patio area. He took cover behind his booth,
shielded two others
and was able to flee to safety.
Some wounded clubgoers
played dead on the dance floor
. Others barricaded themselves inside bathroom stalls and, not wanting to speak, texted loved ones for help. The gunman paced around the rear of the club,
laughing and shooting
at bodies already on the ground.
A SWAT team was called at 2:18 a.m.
At 2:35 a.m., about half an hour after the shooting began, the shooter made one
of
several 911 calls
, according to the FBI.
"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.
"What's your name?" the operator asked.
"My name is I pledge of allegiance to
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
of the Islamic State."
At 2:48 a.m., the gunman β whose name was Omar Mir Seddique Mateen β spoke with crisis negotiators from the Orlando police. He had a second conversation with them at 3:03 a.m. and a third at 3:24 a.m.
Mateen identified himself as "an Islamic soldier," according to the FBI, and threatened to detonate explosives, including a car bomb and a suicide vest β the kind "used in France," he said, referring to the terrorist attacks in Paris last November. Searches inside and outside the club failed to turn up these items, investigators said.
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. He texted his wife.
(Top) Orlando police officers direct family members away from the Pulse nightclub in Orlando on the night of the attack. (Left) Bystanders wait down the street from Pulse. (Right) Law enforcement personnel respond.
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP (3)
hide caption
toggle caption
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP (3)
At 3:58 a.m., the Orlando Police Department's Twitter account warned residents to stay away from the area.
At 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. As clubgoers were being rescued, they told police the shooter had threatened to put bomb vests on four people within 15 minutes.
As 5 a.m. approached, those inside had been trapped for nearly three hours, some wounded and bleeding, calling police from their cellphones and pleading for help.
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.
"I could see his feet, like scooting back, scooting back, scooting back, as he heard the police outside," said Patience Carter,
one of the hostages with Mateen
.
At 5:02 a.m., a SWAT team and the Orange County Sheriff's Office Hazardous Device Team "began to breach [the bathroom] wall with explosive charge and armored vehicle to make entry,"
according to the FBI
.
"And the last thing that I heard before the police said, you know, 'Move away from the walls' β because, obviously, they were about to bust through again β [the shooter] said, 'Hey, you,' to someone on the floor inside the bathroom," Carter said. "And shot them. Shot another person, and then shot another person who happened to be directly behind me."
When the wall was broken, hostages began to emerge β and so did Mateen.
FBI agents investigate near the damaged rear wall of the Pulse club, where police used explosives and an armored vehicle to break through the cinder block.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
"The suspect came out of that hole himself, armed with a handgun and a long gun," Orlando's police chief said.
Mateen began firing at police, and they fired back. An officer was hit in the gun battle but was saved from serious injury by
his Kevlar helmet
.
At 5:15 a.m., police reported the shooter was down.
A police tweet confirmed Mateen's death at 5:53 a.m., just before sunrise Sunday morning.
Pulse Shooting: The shooter inside the club is dead.
β Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice)
June 12, 2016
'I Don't Know Why He Did It'
The 29-year-old gunman
was a U.S. citizen, born in New York in 1986. His parents moved to New York from Afghanistan in the 1980s, and eventually, the family relocated to Port St. Lucie, Fla. Mateen's last known residence was in Fort Pierce, in St. Lucie County β about a two-hour drive from Orlando.
Investigators said Mateen legally purchased the two weapons he used at Pulse, a
Sig Sauer MCX
assault-style rifle and a handgun, in Port St. Lucie in the
week before the attack
. A third weapon was found in his vehicle.
According to public records, Mateen had possessed a valid firearm license since September 2011. He was also licensed to be a security officer, working most recently for the global security company G4S, where he'd been employed since 2007.
FBI Director James Comey said
Mateen had been investigated
in 2013 and again in 2014. In May 2013, Mateen claimed to have ties to both al-Qaida and Hezbollah, sparking a 10-month inquiry that sought anything tying him to more substantial threats. He was placed on a watch list when the investigation began, and taken off when it was closed in March 2014.
In July 2014, FBI agents again looked at Mateen as they investigated anyone with possible ties to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, a U.S. citizen from Florida who blew himself up in a 2014 suicide attack in Syria. "No ties of consequence" were found, Comey said.
Mateen was married twice and had a 3-year-old son. The gunman's father, Seddique Mir Mateen, condemned the attack. "I apologize for what my son did. I don't know why he did it,"
he told NBC News
. "He is dead, so I can't ask him. I wish I knew."
The elder Mateen said his son had become angered recently at the sight of two men kissing. But
multiple media outlets reported
that some Pulse regulars recognized Mateen and said he had frequented the nightclub as a patron. At least two men said they interacted with Mateen on gay dating apps. But "the FBI has found
no evidence so far
to support claims by those who say Mateen had gay lovers or communicated on gay dating apps," according to the
Los Angeles Times
.
This undated file image shows Omar Mateen, 29, whose attack on the Pulse club left 49 victims dead.
Myspace via AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Myspace via AP
Mateen's first marriage ended in divorce. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusifiy,
said he was an abusive husband
. A grand jury
is looking into
what his second wife, Noor Salman, might have known about her husband's plans to target Pulse and whether she should face charges in connection with the attack.
Mateen texted Salman
as the attack was underway.
Mateen's motivations remain unclear. Although he claimed allegiance to ISIS, he also said during his 911 conversations that the Tsarnaev brothers, who attacked the Boston Marathon in 2012 (but did not affiliate themselves with ISIS), were his "homeboys,"
the FBI said.
His father
has insisted
the attack had "nothing to do with religion."
'We Will Be Defined By How We Respond'
"Around 2:00 [a.m.] or so, we got word that there were some shootings," Dr. Gary Parrish, medical director of the emergency department at the Orlando Regional Medical Center,
told reporters
on June 14.
"But we didn't know quite what was about to hit us."
Patients suffering wounds to the chest, pelvis, extremities and abdomen began flooding into the emergency room shortly after 2 a.m., said Dr. Chadwick Smith, a surgeon at the hospital.
(Left) Dr. Joshua Corsa, senior surgical resident at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, still wears his bloodstained shoes from early Sunday morning, when the first victims from the Pulse nightclub shooting arrived. (Right) Dr. Neil Finkler consoles gunshot victim Patience Carter, 20, of Philadelphia.
Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images; Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images; Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The wounded were brought in by the "truckloads and ambulance loads,"
doctors said
. So much blood was lost that the hospital exhausted its entire medical supply. More had to be brought in from nearby hospitals.
Operating rooms, Smith said, were cleaned hastily between surgeries, in about a minute β again and again and again.
"We are dealing with something we never imagined," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer
tweeted
the morning after the attack. But,
he said later,
"We will not be defined by the act of a cowardly hater. We will be defined by how we respond, how we treat each other."
Vigils
around the country and the world have honored the memory of the victims. On Friday, Florida's governor and Cabinet members
placed 49 state flags
for the victims on the lawn of Florida's historic capitol in Tallahassee.
(Left) Anesha Collins leaves flowers to honor her friend Shane Evan Tomlinson and other victims at a makeshift memorial a few blocks from Pulse. (Right) Crosses for each of the victims line a walkway in Orlando as a memorial to those killed. (Bottom) A procession with the casket of Christopher Andrew Leinonen, one of the 49 victims killed, enters a church for Leinonen's funeral on June 18.
David Goldman/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
David Goldman/AP
Meanwhile,
gun sales increased
in the days following the massacre. A Florida congressional candidate announced
a contest on Facebook
to give away an AR-15 rifle, similar to the weapon Mateen used, on July 4.
In Washington, D.C., the Senate voted on four gun-control measures.
All four failed
.
Dr. Joshua Corsa, a surgeon who was on duty at the Orlando Regional Medical Center the night of the attack,
has vowed
to continue wearing the bloodstained shoes he had on that night, until every wounded victim is discharged from the hospital.
On Thursday, 11 days after the attack, Pulse's owner
hosted a "Latin Night"
street party for employees, patrons and friends, with music blaring and a dance floor in a restaurant parking lot. A thousand people showed up. "It's not a party, really, but I feel happy to see everyone,"
said one Pulse patron,
who'd survived after hiding in a bathroom during the June 12 attack. "We needed this."
The section of Orlando's Orange Avenue near Pulse has reopened for business and traffic, though the club itself remains closed for now. "We can't feel normal yet after what happened," a Pulse employee
told the
Orlando Sentinel
.
But life is returning to a scarred city.
At Orlando's Lake Eola, a flag flies at half-staff on June 14 for victims of the Pulse shooting.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Drew Angerer/Getty Images |
| Markdown | Accessibility links
- [Skip to main content](https://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482322488/orlando-shooting-what-happened-update#mainContent)
- [Keyboard shortcuts for audio player](https://help.npr.org/contact/s/article?name=what-are-the-keyboard-shortcuts-for-using-the-npr-org-audio-player)
![]()
****Loading****
- **Hourly News**
- **Listen Live**
- **My Playlist**
- Open Navigation Menu
- [](https://www.npr.org/)
- ****
WAMU 88.5
- ******Listen Live****WAMU 88.5 (HD 88.5-1)******
- [donate](https://www.npr.org/donations/support)
- [Change](https://www.npr.org/stations/)
[Sign in or register](https://www.npr.org/account/login) to see your station everywhere you enjoy NPR.
- [Newsletters](https://www.npr.org/newsletters/)
- [Sign In](https://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482322488/orlando-shooting-what-happened-update)Personalize Your Experience
- [NPR Shop](https://shopnpr.org/)
- [Donate](https://www.npr.org/donations/support)
- [Local Station](https://www.npr.org/donations/support)
- [NPR Network](https://contribute.npr.org/)
Close Navigation Menu
- [Home](https://www.npr.org/)
- [News](https://www.npr.org/sections/news/)
Expand/collapse submenu for News
- [National](https://www.npr.org/sections/national/)
- [World](https://www.npr.org/sections/world/)
- [Politics](https://www.npr.org/sections/politics/)
- [Business](https://www.npr.org/sections/business/)
- [Health](https://www.npr.org/sections/health/)
- [Science](https://www.npr.org/sections/science/)
- [Climate](https://www.npr.org/sections/climate/)
- [Race](https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/)
- [Culture](https://www.npr.org/sections/culture/)
Expand/collapse submenu for Culture
- [Books](https://www.npr.org/books/)
- [Movies](https://www.npr.org/sections/movies/)
- [Television](https://www.npr.org/sections/television/)
- [Pop Culture](https://www.npr.org/sections/pop-culture/)
- [Food](https://www.npr.org/sections/food/)
- [Art & Design](https://www.npr.org/sections/art-design/)
- [Performing Arts](https://www.npr.org/sections/performing-arts/)
- [Life Kit](https://www.npr.org/lifekit/)
- [Gaming](https://www.npr.org/sections/gaming/)
- [Music](https://www.npr.org/music/)
Expand/collapse submenu for Music
- [Tiny Desk](https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/)
- [New Music Friday](https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/606254804/new-music-friday)
- [All Songs Considered](https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/)
- [Music Features](https://www.npr.org/sections/music-features)
- [Live Sessions](https://www.npr.org/series/770565791/npr-music-live-sessions)
- [The Best Music of 2025](https://www.npr.org/2025/12/10/g-s1-99930/best-music-of-2025)
- [Podcasts & Shows](https://www.npr.org/podcasts-and-shows/)
Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows
Daily
- [ Morning Edition](https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/)
- [ Weekend Edition Saturday](https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-saturday/)
- [ Weekend Edition Sunday](https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/)
- [ All Things Considered](https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/)
- [ Up First](https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510318/up-first/)
- [ Here & Now](https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510051/here-x26-now/)
- [ NPR Politics Podcast](https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510310/npr-politics-podcast/)
Featured
- [ Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me\!](https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/)
- [ Fresh Air](https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/)
- [ Wild Card with Rachel Martin](https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510379/wild-card-with-rachel-martin)
- [ It's Been a Minute](https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510317/its-been-a-minute)
- [ Planet Money](https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money)
- [ Get NPR+](https://plus.npr.org/?utm_medium=nprweb&source=globalsubnav)
- [More Podcasts & Shows](https://www.npr.org/podcasts-and-shows/)
- [Search](https://www.npr.org/search/)
- [Newsletters](https://www.npr.org/newsletters/)
- [NPR Shop](https://shopnpr.org/)
- [Sign In](https://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482322488/orlando-shooting-what-happened-update)Personalize Your Experience
- [ ](https://www.npr.org/music/)
- [Tiny Desk](https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/)
- [New Music Friday](https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/606254804/new-music-friday)
- [All Songs Considered](https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/)
- [Music Features](https://www.npr.org/sections/music-features)
- [Live Sessions](https://www.npr.org/series/770565791/npr-music-live-sessions)
- [The Best Music of 2025](https://www.npr.org/2025/12/10/g-s1-99930/best-music-of-2025)
- [About NPR](https://www.npr.org/about/)
- [Diversity](https://www.npr.org/diversity/)
- [Support](https://www.npr.org/support/)
- [Careers](https://www.npr.org/careers/)
- [Press](https://www.npr.org/series/750003/press-room/)
- [Ethics](https://www.npr.org/ethics/)
**Orlando Shooting: What Happened At The Pulse Nightclub Attack : The Two-Way** **Thanks to police and FBI records and witness accounts, it's becoming clearer β if still impossible to comprehend β what transpired in Orlando in the early hours of June 12.**
[The **Two-Way**](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/)
### [The Two-Way](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/)
# 3 Hours In Orlando: Piecing Together An Attack And Its Aftermath
June 26, 20165:09 PM ET
By
[Ariel Zambelich](https://www.npr.org/people/538090458/ariel-zambelich)
,
[Alyson Hurt](https://www.npr.org/people/348735573/alyson-hurt)
Enlarge this image
Vigils have been held around the country for the victims of the Orlando nightclub attack on June 12. Thousands of people, including Jennifer Ware (right) and Mary Ware, took part in a memorial in downtown Orlando a day after the massacre. **David Goldman/AP** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
David Goldman/AP
![]()
Vigils have been held around the country for the victims of the Orlando nightclub attack on June 12. Thousands of people, including Jennifer Ware (right) and Mary Ware, took part in a memorial in downtown Orlando a day after the massacre.
David Goldman/AP
It's been two weeks since a gunman ended the lives of [49 victims](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/12/481785763/heres-what-we-know-about-the-orlando-shooting-victims) and injured dozens of others at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. As survivors heal and a [community embraces](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/19/482698337/angels-from-orlandos-theater-community-guard-mourners-from-protesters) the wounded and honors the dead, questions linger about what happened that night β and how the U.S. would respond after its [deadliest mass shooting](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/13/481884291/putting-deadliest-mass-shooting-in-u-s-history-into-some-historical-context) in recent history.
Many details of the attack still aren't known. But thanks to police and FBI records and witness accounts, it's become clearer β if still impossible to comprehend β [what transpired](https://www.fbi.gov/tampa/press-releases/2016/investigative-update-regarding-pulse-nightclub-shooting) in Orlando in the early hours of June 12, between 2:02 a.m. and 5:15 a.m. ET.
Sponsor Message
### **'All Hell Broke Loose'**
The weekend had already started on a tragic note, with the death on Saturday morning of a former contestant on *The Voice.* [Christina Grimmie had been shot](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/11/481671638/the-voice-singer-christina-grimmie-killed-by-gunman-at-orlando-concert-venue) the night before as she signed autographs following a performance at an Orlando theater, and the city was struggling to come to terms with this violent crime.
Saturday night was Latin Night at Pulse, one of the city's best-known gay clubs, and the place was packed with patrons both gay and straight, young and not-so-young, from the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and elsewhere, having a good time, dancing salsa and bachata.
At 2:02 a.m., according to [an FBI timeline,](https://www.fbi.gov/tampa/press-releases/2016/investigative-update-regarding-pulse-nightclub-shooting) Orlando police received reports that multiple shots had been fired at Pulse. An off-duty officer was working there and "engaged in a gun battle" with the shooter, [said](http://www.npr.org/2016/06/13/481914409/survivors-describe-timeline-of-events-leading-up-to-orlando-shooting) Orlando Police Chief John Mina. "The suspect, at some point, went back inside the club, where more shots were fired," Mina said. Additional officers had arrived at 2:04 a.m. and entered Pulse four minutes later, exchanging fire with the attacker.
At 2:09 a.m., a warning appeared on the club's [Facebook page:](https://www.facebook.com/pulseorlando/posts/10154938990430031) "Everyone get out of pulse and keep running."
Many did. But not everyone could.
As soon as [Angel Colon](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/14/482019152/listen-victim-doctors-describe-war-zone-following-shootings-in-orlando) heard the gunshots, he and his friends ran for their lives. But Colon was shot three times. He fell and was trampled. All around him, he heard shots and cries for help.
"I could just see him shooting at everyone and I can hear the \[shots getting\] closer, and I look over and he shoots the girl next to me," he said. "And I'm just there laying down and I'm thinking, 'I'm next. I'm dead.' "
Enlarge this image
Angel Colon was shot three times at Pulse. "I'm just there laying down and I'm thinking, 'I'm next. I'm dead,' " he said. **Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
![]()
Angel Colon was shot three times at Pulse. "I'm just there laying down and I'm thinking, 'I'm next. I'm dead,' " he said.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
"Just all hell broke loose, people running for the door, jumping over the gates," [said Ray Rivera,](http://www.npr.org/2016/06/13/481914409/survivors-describe-timeline-of-events-leading-up-to-orlando-shooting) also known as DJ Infinite, who'd been playing music that night in the patio area. He took cover behind his booth, [shielded two others](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-florida-shooting-latinos-idUSKCN0YZ2GH) and was able to flee to safety.
Some wounded clubgoers [played dead on the dance floor](http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=482497845). Others barricaded themselves inside bathroom stalls and, not wanting to speak, texted loved ones for help. The gunman paced around the rear of the club, [laughing and shooting](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/us/reconstruct-orlando-pulse-shootings.html?_r=0) at bodies already on the ground.
A SWAT team was called at 2:18 a.m.
Sponsor Message
At 2:35 a.m., about half an hour after the shooting began, the shooter made oneof [several 911 calls](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/20/482794103/partial-transcripts-of-orlando-gunman-s-911-calls-show-vows-and-threats), according to the FBI.
[](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/12/481785763/heres-what-we-know-about-the-orlando-shooting-victims)
### [The Two-Way](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/)
### ['They Were So Beautiful': Remembering Those Murdered In Orlando](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/12/481785763/heres-what-we-know-about-the-orlando-shooting-victims)
[](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/12/481793981/lgbt-community-mourns-orlando-attack-boosts-security-at-pride-events)
### [The Two-Way](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/)
### [LGBT Community Mourns Orlando Attack, Boosts Security At Pride Events](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/12/481793981/lgbt-community-mourns-orlando-attack-boosts-security-at-pride-events)
[](https://www.npr.org/2016/06/14/482055708/orlando-shooting-survivor-volunteers-as-translator-for-victims-families)
### [Around the Nation](https://www.npr.org/series/484406692/npr-special-coverage-of-the-orlando-nightclub-shooting)
### [Volunteer Interprets For Orlando Victims' Families: 'It Could Have Been Me'](https://www.npr.org/2016/06/14/482055708/orlando-shooting-survivor-volunteers-as-translator-for-victims-families)
[](https://www.npr.org/2016/06/19/482658774/in-songs-stories-latino-and-lgbt-voices-on-how-the-orlando-attack-feels-personal)
### [U.S.](https://www.npr.org/sections/national/)
### [In Songs, Stories, Latino And LGBT Voices On How The Orlando Attack Feels Personal](https://www.npr.org/2016/06/19/482658774/in-songs-stories-latino-and-lgbt-voices-on-how-the-orlando-attack-feels-personal)
"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.
"What's your name?" the operator asked.
"My name is I pledge of allegiance to [Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27801676) of the Islamic State."
At 2:48 a.m., the gunman β whose name was Omar Mir Seddique Mateen β spoke with crisis negotiators from the Orlando police. He had a second conversation with them at 3:03 a.m. and a third at 3:24 a.m.
Mateen identified himself as "an Islamic soldier," according to the FBI, and threatened to detonate explosives, including a car bomb and a suicide vest β the kind "used in France," he said, referring to the terrorist attacks in Paris last November. Searches inside and outside the club failed to turn up these items, investigators said.
Mateen is also believed to have [spent time online](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/16/482339322/senator-says-orlando-shooter-posted-pro-isis-messages-on-facebook) during his siege of the club, checking Facebook and searching for "Pulse Orlando" and "shooting." He called a friend. He texted his wife.
(Top) Orlando police officers direct family members away from the Pulse nightclub in Orlando on the night of the attack. (Left) Bystanders wait down the street from Pulse. (Right) Law enforcement personnel respond. **Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP (3)** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP (3)
At 3:58 a.m., the Orlando Police Department's Twitter account warned residents to stay away from the area.
At 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. As clubgoers were being rescued, they told police the shooter had threatened to put bomb vests on four people within 15 minutes.
As 5 a.m. approached, those inside had been trapped for nearly three hours, some wounded and bleeding, calling police from their cellphones and pleading for help.
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](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/13/481835963/worst-mass-shooting-on-u-s-soil-what-we-know-monday) with several hostages.
"I could see his feet, like scooting back, scooting back, scooting back, as he heard the police outside," said Patience Carter, [one of the hostages with Mateen](http://www.npr.org/2016/06/17/482497845/bearing-witness-to-the-shootings-in-orlando-how-the-events-unfolded).
Sponsor Message
At 5:02 a.m., a SWAT team and the Orange County Sheriff's Office Hazardous Device Team "began to breach \[the bathroom\] wall with explosive charge and armored vehicle to make entry," [according to the FBI](https://www.fbi.gov/tampa/press-releases/2016/investigative-update-regarding-pulse-nightclub-shooting).
"And the last thing that I heard before the police said, you know, 'Move away from the walls' β because, obviously, they were about to bust through again β \[the shooter\] said, 'Hey, you,' to someone on the floor inside the bathroom," Carter said. "And shot them. Shot another person, and then shot another person who happened to be directly behind me."
When the wall was broken, hostages began to emerge β and so did Mateen.
FBI agents investigate near the damaged rear wall of the Pulse club, where police used explosives and an armored vehicle to break through the cinder block. **Joe Raedle/Getty Images** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
"The suspect came out of that hole himself, armed with a handgun and a long gun," Orlando's police chief said.Mateen began firing at police, and they fired back. An officer was hit in the gun battle but was saved from serious injury by [his Kevlar helmet](https://twitter.com/ChiefJohnMina/status/742181574637015040).
At 5:15 a.m., police reported the shooter was down.
A police tweet confirmed Mateen's death at 5:53 a.m., just before sunrise Sunday morning.
> Pulse Shooting: The shooter inside the club is dead.
>
> β Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) [June 12, 2016](https://twitter.com/OrlandoPolice/status/741931400392249344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
### **'I Don't Know Why He Did It'**
[The 29-year-old gunman](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/12/481787369/what-we-know-so-far-about-the-suspected-orlando-shooter) was a U.S. citizen, born in New York in 1986. His parents moved to New York from Afghanistan in the 1980s, and eventually, the family relocated to Port St. Lucie, Fla. Mateen's last known residence was in Fort Pierce, in St. Lucie County β about a two-hour drive from Orlando.
Investigators said Mateen legally purchased the two weapons he used at Pulse, a [Sig Sauer MCX](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/13/481877159/the-rifle-used-in-orlando-is-lightweight-easy-to-use-and-oh-so-deadly) assault-style rifle and a handgun, in Port St. Lucie in the [week before the attack](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/13/481938884/gun-shop-owner-evil-person-bought-weapons-legally-before-orlando-attack). A third weapon was found in his vehicle.
*Credit: Alyson Hurt/NPR*
According to public records, Mateen had possessed a valid firearm license since September 2011. He was also licensed to be a security officer, working most recently for the global security company G4S, where he'd been employed since 2007.
FBI Director James Comey said [Mateen had been investigated](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/13/481889329/orlando-gunman-had-been-taken-off-watch-list-fbi-director-comey-says) in 2013 and again in 2014. In May 2013, Mateen claimed to have ties to both al-Qaida and Hezbollah, sparking a 10-month inquiry that sought anything tying him to more substantial threats. He was placed on a watch list when the investigation began, and taken off when it was closed in March 2014.
In July 2014, FBI agents again looked at Mateen as they investigated anyone with possible ties to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, a U.S. citizen from Florida who blew himself up in a 2014 suicide attack in Syria. "No ties of consequence" were found, Comey said.
Mateen was married twice and had a 3-year-old son. The gunman's father, Seddique Mir Mateen, condemned the attack. "I apologize for what my son did. I don't know why he did it," [he told NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/orlando-nightclub-massacre/orlando-nightclub-shooting-emergency-services-respond-reports-gunman-n590446). "He is dead, so I can't ask him. I wish I knew."
Sponsor Message
The elder Mateen said his son had become angered recently at the sight of two men kissing. But [multiple media outlets reported](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/14/481986819/reports-gunman-had-visited-nightclub-before-used-gay-dating-apps) that some Pulse regulars recognized Mateen and said he had frequented the nightclub as a patron. At least two men said they interacted with Mateen on gay dating apps. But "the FBI has found [no evidence so far](http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-orlando-gay-fbi-20160623-snap-story.html) to support claims by those who say Mateen had gay lovers or communicated on gay dating apps," according to the *Los Angeles Times*.
This undated file image shows Omar Mateen, 29, whose attack on the Pulse club left 49 victims dead. **Myspace via AP** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
Myspace via AP
Mateen's first marriage ended in divorce. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusifiy, [said he was an abusive husband](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/ex-wife-of-suspected-orlando-shooter-he-beat-me/2016/06/12/8a1963b4-30b8-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html). A grand jury [is looking into](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/15/482152882/grand-jury-weighs-charges-against-orlando-shooters-wife-sources-say) what his second wife, Noor Salman, might have known about her husband's plans to target Pulse and whether she should face charges in connection with the attack. [Mateen texted Salman](http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/16/us/orlando-shooter-omar-mateen/) as the attack was underway.
Mateen's motivations remain unclear. Although he claimed allegiance to ISIS, he also said during his 911 conversations that the Tsarnaev brothers, who attacked the Boston Marathon in 2012 (but did not affiliate themselves with ISIS), were his "homeboys," [the FBI said.](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/10052d13022c45f18e6bd259fcffba09/fbi-orlando-shooter-called-marathon-bombers-homeboys)
His father [has insisted](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/orlando-nightclub-massacre/terror-hate-what-motivated-orlando-nightclub-shooter-n590496) the attack had "nothing to do with religion."
### **'We Will Be Defined By How We Respond'**
"Around 2:00 \[a.m.\] or so, we got word that there were some shootings," Dr. Gary Parrish, medical director of the emergency department at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, [told reporters](http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1606/14/cnr.04.html) on June 14. "But we didn't know quite what was about to hit us."
Patients suffering wounds to the chest, pelvis, extremities and abdomen began flooding into the emergency room shortly after 2 a.m., said Dr. Chadwick Smith, a surgeon at the hospital.
(Left) Dr. Joshua Corsa, senior surgical resident at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, still wears his bloodstained shoes from early Sunday morning, when the first victims from the Pulse nightclub shooting arrived. (Right) Dr. Neil Finkler consoles gunshot victim Patience Carter, 20, of Philadelphia. **Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images; Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images; Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The wounded were brought in by the "truckloads and ambulance loads," [doctors said](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/14/482019152/listen-victim-doctors-describe-war-zone-following-shootings-in-orlando). So much blood was lost that the hospital exhausted its entire medical supply. More had to be brought in from nearby hospitals.
Sponsor Message
Operating rooms, Smith said, were cleaned hastily between surgeries, in about a minute β again and again and again.
"We are dealing with something we never imagined," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer [tweeted](https://twitter.com/orlandomayor/status/741998947758018560) the morning after the attack. But, [he said later,](https://twitter.com/orlandomayor/status/742326629817569280) "We will not be defined by the act of a cowardly hater. We will be defined by how we respond, how we treat each other."
[Vigils](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/14/481988650/across-the-country-vigils-honor-victims-of-orlando-attack) around the country and the world have honored the memory of the victims. On Friday, Florida's governor and Cabinet members [placed 49 state flags](http://postonpolitics.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2016/06/24/orlando-shooting-victims-remembered-at-historic-capitol/) for the victims on the lawn of Florida's historic capitol in Tallahassee.
(Left) Anesha Collins leaves flowers to honor her friend Shane Evan Tomlinson and other victims at a makeshift memorial a few blocks from Pulse. (Right) Crosses for each of the victims line a walkway in Orlando as a memorial to those killed. (Bottom) A procession with the casket of Christopher Andrew Leinonen, one of the 49 victims killed, enters a church for Leinonen's funeral on June 18. **David Goldman/AP** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
David Goldman/AP
Meanwhile, [gun sales increased](http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/06/16/gun-sales-in-florida-soar-after-orlando-shooting/) in the days following the massacre. A Florida congressional candidate announced [a contest on Facebook](http://www.gregevers.com/evers_homeland_defender_giveaway) to give away an AR-15 rifle, similar to the weapon Mateen used, on July 4.
In Washington, D.C., the Senate voted on four gun-control measures. [All four failed](http://www.npr.org/2016/06/20/482783071/here-are-the-4-gun-proposals-the-senate-is-voting-on-monday-again).
Dr. Joshua Corsa, a surgeon who was on duty at the Orlando Regional Medical Center the night of the attack, [has vowed](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/17/482532247/a-surgeons-bloodstained-shoes-have-become-a-symbol-of-orlandos-defiance) to continue wearing the bloodstained shoes he had on that night, until every wounded victim is discharged from the hospital.
On Thursday, 11 days after the attack, Pulse's owner [hosted a "Latin Night"](http://www.npr.org/2016/06/24/483337005/orlando-club-reopens-after-49-patrons-were-killed-in-deadliest-u-s-shooting) street party for employees, patrons and friends, with music blaring and a dance floor in a restaurant parking lot. A thousand people showed up. "It's not a party, really, but I feel happy to see everyone," [said one Pulse patron,](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/pulse-orlando-nightclub-shooting/os-pulse-fundraising-event-coverage-20160623-story.html) who'd survived after hiding in a bathroom during the June 12 attack. "We needed this."
The section of Orlando's Orange Avenue near Pulse has reopened for business and traffic, though the club itself remains closed for now. "We can't feel normal yet after what happened," a Pulse employee [told the *Orlando Sentinel*.](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/sns-bc-us--nightclub-shooting-street-party-20160624-story.html) But life is returning to a scarred city.
At Orlando's Lake Eola, a flag flies at half-staff on June 14 for victims of the Pulse shooting. **Drew Angerer/Getty Images** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
- [FBI](https://www.npr.org/tags/126935720/fbi)
- [orlando shootings](https://www.npr.org/tags/481799008/orlando-shootings)
- [omar mateen](https://www.npr.org/tags/481924875/omar-mateen)
- **Facebook**
- **Flipboard**
- **Email**
###### Read & Listen
- [Home](https://www.npr.org/)
- [News](https://www.npr.org/sections/news/)
- [Culture](https://www.npr.org/sections/culture/)
- [Music](https://www.npr.org/music/)
- [Podcasts & Shows](https://www.npr.org/podcasts-and-shows)
###### Connect
- [Newsletters](https://www.npr.org/newsletters/)
- [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/NPR/)
- [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/npr/)
- [Press](https://www.npr.org/series/750003/press-room/)
- [Public Editor](https://www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/)
- [Corrections](https://www.npr.org/corrections/)
- [Transcripts](https://www.npr.org/transcripts/)
- [Contact & Help](https://help.npr.org/contact/s/)
###### About NPR
- [Overview](https://www.npr.org/about/)
- [Diversity](https://www.npr.org/diversity/)
- [NPR Network](https://www.npr.org/network/)
- [Accessibility](https://www.npr.org/about-npr/1136563345/accessibility)
- [Ethics](https://www.npr.org/ethics/)
- [Finances](https://www.npr.org/about-npr/178660742/public-radio-finances)
###### Get Involved
- [Support Public Radio](https://www.npr.org/support/)
- [Sponsor NPR](https://www.npr.org/about-npr/186948703/corporate-sponsorship)
- [NPR Careers](https://www.npr.org/careers/)
- [NPR Shop](https://shopnpr.org/)
- [NPR Extra](https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-extra/)
- [Terms of Use](https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179876898/terms-of-use)
- [Privacy](https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy)
- [Your Privacy Choices](https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy#yourchoices)
- [Text Only](https://text.npr.org/)
- Β© 2026 npr
##### Exclusive benefits
###### Give a little. Get a lot.
Support mission-driven journalism while getting something great in return. Enjoy bonus content, early access and sponsor-free listening from your favorite NPR podcasts.
[Get NPR+](https://plus.npr.org/?utm_medium=nprweb&source=mvpcta)
Already have NPR+?[Sign In](https://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482322488/orlando-shooting-what-happened-update)
Close modal
By clicking βAccept All Cookiesβ or continuing, you agree to the use of cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about your device to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPRβs sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPRβs traffic. This information is shared with social media, sponsorship, analytics, and other vendors or service providers. You may customize which cookies you accept in "Cookie Settings."
Cookies Settings
Accept All Cookies
## Privacy Preference Center
NPR and our service providers and vendors use cookies and similar technologies to collect information. A cookie is a string of characters that can be written to a file on the user's computer or device when the user visits a site, application, platform or service. When you visit a website or use a mobile application, a computer asks your computer or mobile device for permission to store this file on your computer or mobile device and access information from it. Information gathered through cookies may include the date and time of visits and how you are using the website. Note that if you disable or delete cookies, you may lose access to certain features of the NPR Services.
**User ID:** 3558afdb-f78e-4c44-9e7a-13e21e1ebb9f
*This User ID will be used as a unique identifier while storing and accessing your preferences for future.*
**Timestamp:** --
Allow All
### Manage Consent Preferences
#### Strictly Necessary or Essential Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are essential to provide you with services available through the NPR Services and to enable you to use some of their features. For example, these cookies allow NPR to remember your registration information while you are logged in. Local station customization, the NPR Shop, and other interactive features also use cookies. Without these cookies, the services that you have asked for cannot be provided, and we only use these cookies to provide you with those services.
#### Performance and Analytics Cookies
Performance and Analytics Cookies
These cookies are used to collect information about traffic to our Services and how users interact with the NPR Services. The information collected includes the number of visitors to the NPR Services, the websites that referred visitors to the NPR Services, the pages that they visited on the NPR Services, what time of day they visited the NPR Services, whether they have visited the NPR Services before, and other similar information. We use this information to help operate the NPR Services more efficiently, to gather broad demographic information and to monitor the level of activity on the NPR Services.
#### Functional Cookies
Functional Cookies
These cookies allow our Services to remember choices you make when you use them, such as remembering your Member station preferences and remembering your account details. The purpose of these cookies is to provide you with a more personal experience and to prevent you from having to re-enter your preferences every time you visit the NPR Services.
#### Targeting and Sponsor Cookies
Targeting and Sponsor Cookies
These cookies track your browsing habits or other information, such as location, to enable us to show sponsorship credits which are more likely to be of interest to you. These cookies use information about your browsing history to group you with other users who have similar interests. Based on that information, and with our permission, we and our sponsors can place cookies to enable us or our sponsors to show sponsorship credits and other messages that we think will be relevant to your interests while you are using third-party services.
### Cookie List
Clear
- checkbox label
label
Apply
Cancel
Consent Leg.Interest
checkbox label
label
checkbox label
label
checkbox label
label
Reject All
Confirm My Choices
[](https://www.onetrust.com/products/cookie-consent/) |
| Readable Markdown | 
Vigils have been held around the country for the victims of the Orlando nightclub attack on June 12. Thousands of people, including Jennifer Ware (right) and Mary Ware, took part in a memorial in downtown Orlando a day after the massacre. **David Goldman/AP** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
David Goldman/AP
Vigils have been held around the country for the victims of the Orlando nightclub attack on June 12. Thousands of people, including Jennifer Ware (right) and Mary Ware, took part in a memorial in downtown Orlando a day after the massacre.
David Goldman/AP
It's been two weeks since a gunman ended the lives of [49 victims](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/12/481785763/heres-what-we-know-about-the-orlando-shooting-victims) and injured dozens of others at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. As survivors heal and a [community embraces](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/19/482698337/angels-from-orlandos-theater-community-guard-mourners-from-protesters) the wounded and honors the dead, questions linger about what happened that night β and how the U.S. would respond after its [deadliest mass shooting](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/13/481884291/putting-deadliest-mass-shooting-in-u-s-history-into-some-historical-context) in recent history.
Many details of the attack still aren't known. But thanks to police and FBI records and witness accounts, it's become clearer β if still impossible to comprehend β [what transpired](https://www.fbi.gov/tampa/press-releases/2016/investigative-update-regarding-pulse-nightclub-shooting) in Orlando in the early hours of June 12, between 2:02 a.m. and 5:15 a.m. ET.
### **'All Hell Broke Loose'**
The weekend had already started on a tragic note, with the death on Saturday morning of a former contestant on *The Voice.* [Christina Grimmie had been shot](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/11/481671638/the-voice-singer-christina-grimmie-killed-by-gunman-at-orlando-concert-venue) the night before as she signed autographs following a performance at an Orlando theater, and the city was struggling to come to terms with this violent crime.
Saturday night was Latin Night at Pulse, one of the city's best-known gay clubs, and the place was packed with patrons both gay and straight, young and not-so-young, from the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and elsewhere, having a good time, dancing salsa and bachata.
At 2:02 a.m., according to [an FBI timeline,](https://www.fbi.gov/tampa/press-releases/2016/investigative-update-regarding-pulse-nightclub-shooting) Orlando police received reports that multiple shots had been fired at Pulse. An off-duty officer was working there and "engaged in a gun battle" with the shooter, [said](http://www.npr.org/2016/06/13/481914409/survivors-describe-timeline-of-events-leading-up-to-orlando-shooting) Orlando Police Chief John Mina. "The suspect, at some point, went back inside the club, where more shots were fired," Mina said. Additional officers had arrived at 2:04 a.m. and entered Pulse four minutes later, exchanging fire with the attacker.
At 2:09 a.m., a warning appeared on the club's [Facebook page:](https://www.facebook.com/pulseorlando/posts/10154938990430031) "Everyone get out of pulse and keep running."
Many did. But not everyone could.
As soon as [Angel Colon](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/14/482019152/listen-victim-doctors-describe-war-zone-following-shootings-in-orlando) heard the gunshots, he and his friends ran for their lives. But Colon was shot three times. He fell and was trampled. All around him, he heard shots and cries for help.
"I could just see him shooting at everyone and I can hear the \[shots getting\] closer, and I look over and he shoots the girl next to me," he said. "And I'm just there laying down and I'm thinking, 'I'm next. I'm dead.' "
Angel Colon was shot three times at Pulse. "I'm just there laying down and I'm thinking, 'I'm next. I'm dead,' " he said. **Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Angel Colon was shot three times at Pulse. "I'm just there laying down and I'm thinking, 'I'm next. I'm dead,' " he said.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
"Just all hell broke loose, people running for the door, jumping over the gates," [said Ray Rivera,](http://www.npr.org/2016/06/13/481914409/survivors-describe-timeline-of-events-leading-up-to-orlando-shooting) also known as DJ Infinite, who'd been playing music that night in the patio area. He took cover behind his booth, [shielded two others](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-florida-shooting-latinos-idUSKCN0YZ2GH) and was able to flee to safety.
Some wounded clubgoers [played dead on the dance floor](http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=482497845). Others barricaded themselves inside bathroom stalls and, not wanting to speak, texted loved ones for help. The gunman paced around the rear of the club, [laughing and shooting](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/us/reconstruct-orlando-pulse-shootings.html?_r=0) at bodies already on the ground.
A SWAT team was called at 2:18 a.m.
At 2:35 a.m., about half an hour after the shooting began, the shooter made oneof [several 911 calls](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/20/482794103/partial-transcripts-of-orlando-gunman-s-911-calls-show-vows-and-threats), according to the FBI.
"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.
"What's your name?" the operator asked.
"My name is I pledge of allegiance to [Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27801676) of the Islamic State."
At 2:48 a.m., the gunman β whose name was Omar Mir Seddique Mateen β spoke with crisis negotiators from the Orlando police. He had a second conversation with them at 3:03 a.m. and a third at 3:24 a.m.
Mateen identified himself as "an Islamic soldier," according to the FBI, and threatened to detonate explosives, including a car bomb and a suicide vest β the kind "used in France," he said, referring to the terrorist attacks in Paris last November. Searches inside and outside the club failed to turn up these items, investigators said.
Mateen is also believed to have [spent time online](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/16/482339322/senator-says-orlando-shooter-posted-pro-isis-messages-on-facebook) during his siege of the club, checking Facebook and searching for "Pulse Orlando" and "shooting." He called a friend. He texted his wife.
(Top) Orlando police officers direct family members away from the Pulse nightclub in Orlando on the night of the attack. (Left) Bystanders wait down the street from Pulse. (Right) Law enforcement personnel respond. **Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP (3)** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP (3)
At 3:58 a.m., the Orlando Police Department's Twitter account warned residents to stay away from the area.
At 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. As clubgoers were being rescued, they told police the shooter had threatened to put bomb vests on four people within 15 minutes.
As 5 a.m. approached, those inside had been trapped for nearly three hours, some wounded and bleeding, calling police from their cellphones and pleading for help.
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](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/13/481835963/worst-mass-shooting-on-u-s-soil-what-we-know-monday) with several hostages.
"I could see his feet, like scooting back, scooting back, scooting back, as he heard the police outside," said Patience Carter, [one of the hostages with Mateen](http://www.npr.org/2016/06/17/482497845/bearing-witness-to-the-shootings-in-orlando-how-the-events-unfolded).
At 5:02 a.m., a SWAT team and the Orange County Sheriff's Office Hazardous Device Team "began to breach \[the bathroom\] wall with explosive charge and armored vehicle to make entry," [according to the FBI](https://www.fbi.gov/tampa/press-releases/2016/investigative-update-regarding-pulse-nightclub-shooting).
"And the last thing that I heard before the police said, you know, 'Move away from the walls' β because, obviously, they were about to bust through again β \[the shooter\] said, 'Hey, you,' to someone on the floor inside the bathroom," Carter said. "And shot them. Shot another person, and then shot another person who happened to be directly behind me."
When the wall was broken, hostages began to emerge β and so did Mateen.
FBI agents investigate near the damaged rear wall of the Pulse club, where police used explosives and an armored vehicle to break through the cinder block. **Joe Raedle/Getty Images** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
"The suspect came out of that hole himself, armed with a handgun and a long gun," Orlando's police chief said.Mateen began firing at police, and they fired back. An officer was hit in the gun battle but was saved from serious injury by [his Kevlar helmet](https://twitter.com/ChiefJohnMina/status/742181574637015040).
At 5:15 a.m., police reported the shooter was down.
A police tweet confirmed Mateen's death at 5:53 a.m., just before sunrise Sunday morning.
> Pulse Shooting: The shooter inside the club is dead.
>
> β Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) [June 12, 2016](https://twitter.com/OrlandoPolice/status/741931400392249344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
### **'I Don't Know Why He Did It'**
[The 29-year-old gunman](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/12/481787369/what-we-know-so-far-about-the-suspected-orlando-shooter) was a U.S. citizen, born in New York in 1986. His parents moved to New York from Afghanistan in the 1980s, and eventually, the family relocated to Port St. Lucie, Fla. Mateen's last known residence was in Fort Pierce, in St. Lucie County β about a two-hour drive from Orlando.
Investigators said Mateen legally purchased the two weapons he used at Pulse, a [Sig Sauer MCX](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/13/481877159/the-rifle-used-in-orlando-is-lightweight-easy-to-use-and-oh-so-deadly) assault-style rifle and a handgun, in Port St. Lucie in the [week before the attack](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/13/481938884/gun-shop-owner-evil-person-bought-weapons-legally-before-orlando-attack). A third weapon was found in his vehicle.
According to public records, Mateen had possessed a valid firearm license since September 2011. He was also licensed to be a security officer, working most recently for the global security company G4S, where he'd been employed since 2007.
FBI Director James Comey said [Mateen had been investigated](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/13/481889329/orlando-gunman-had-been-taken-off-watch-list-fbi-director-comey-says) in 2013 and again in 2014. In May 2013, Mateen claimed to have ties to both al-Qaida and Hezbollah, sparking a 10-month inquiry that sought anything tying him to more substantial threats. He was placed on a watch list when the investigation began, and taken off when it was closed in March 2014.
In July 2014, FBI agents again looked at Mateen as they investigated anyone with possible ties to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, a U.S. citizen from Florida who blew himself up in a 2014 suicide attack in Syria. "No ties of consequence" were found, Comey said.
Mateen was married twice and had a 3-year-old son. The gunman's father, Seddique Mir Mateen, condemned the attack. "I apologize for what my son did. I don't know why he did it," [he told NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/orlando-nightclub-massacre/orlando-nightclub-shooting-emergency-services-respond-reports-gunman-n590446). "He is dead, so I can't ask him. I wish I knew."
The elder Mateen said his son had become angered recently at the sight of two men kissing. But [multiple media outlets reported](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/14/481986819/reports-gunman-had-visited-nightclub-before-used-gay-dating-apps) that some Pulse regulars recognized Mateen and said he had frequented the nightclub as a patron. At least two men said they interacted with Mateen on gay dating apps. But "the FBI has found [no evidence so far](http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-orlando-gay-fbi-20160623-snap-story.html) to support claims by those who say Mateen had gay lovers or communicated on gay dating apps," according to the *Los Angeles Times*.
This undated file image shows Omar Mateen, 29, whose attack on the Pulse club left 49 victims dead. **Myspace via AP** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
Myspace via AP
Mateen's first marriage ended in divorce. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusifiy, [said he was an abusive husband](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/ex-wife-of-suspected-orlando-shooter-he-beat-me/2016/06/12/8a1963b4-30b8-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html). A grand jury [is looking into](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/15/482152882/grand-jury-weighs-charges-against-orlando-shooters-wife-sources-say) what his second wife, Noor Salman, might have known about her husband's plans to target Pulse and whether she should face charges in connection with the attack. [Mateen texted Salman](http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/16/us/orlando-shooter-omar-mateen/) as the attack was underway.
Mateen's motivations remain unclear. Although he claimed allegiance to ISIS, he also said during his 911 conversations that the Tsarnaev brothers, who attacked the Boston Marathon in 2012 (but did not affiliate themselves with ISIS), were his "homeboys," [the FBI said.](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/10052d13022c45f18e6bd259fcffba09/fbi-orlando-shooter-called-marathon-bombers-homeboys)
His father [has insisted](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/orlando-nightclub-massacre/terror-hate-what-motivated-orlando-nightclub-shooter-n590496) the attack had "nothing to do with religion."
### **'We Will Be Defined By How We Respond'**
"Around 2:00 \[a.m.\] or so, we got word that there were some shootings," Dr. Gary Parrish, medical director of the emergency department at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, [told reporters](http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1606/14/cnr.04.html) on June 14. "But we didn't know quite what was about to hit us."
Patients suffering wounds to the chest, pelvis, extremities and abdomen began flooding into the emergency room shortly after 2 a.m., said Dr. Chadwick Smith, a surgeon at the hospital.
(Left) Dr. Joshua Corsa, senior surgical resident at the Orlando Regional Medical Center, still wears his bloodstained shoes from early Sunday morning, when the first victims from the Pulse nightclub shooting arrived. (Right) Dr. Neil Finkler consoles gunshot victim Patience Carter, 20, of Philadelphia. **Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images; Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
Jacob Langston/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images; Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The wounded were brought in by the "truckloads and ambulance loads," [doctors said](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/14/482019152/listen-victim-doctors-describe-war-zone-following-shootings-in-orlando). So much blood was lost that the hospital exhausted its entire medical supply. More had to be brought in from nearby hospitals.
Operating rooms, Smith said, were cleaned hastily between surgeries, in about a minute β again and again and again.
"We are dealing with something we never imagined," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer [tweeted](https://twitter.com/orlandomayor/status/741998947758018560) the morning after the attack. But, [he said later,](https://twitter.com/orlandomayor/status/742326629817569280) "We will not be defined by the act of a cowardly hater. We will be defined by how we respond, how we treat each other."
[Vigils](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/14/481988650/across-the-country-vigils-honor-victims-of-orlando-attack) around the country and the world have honored the memory of the victims. On Friday, Florida's governor and Cabinet members [placed 49 state flags](http://postonpolitics.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2016/06/24/orlando-shooting-victims-remembered-at-historic-capitol/) for the victims on the lawn of Florida's historic capitol in Tallahassee.
(Left) Anesha Collins leaves flowers to honor her friend Shane Evan Tomlinson and other victims at a makeshift memorial a few blocks from Pulse. (Right) Crosses for each of the victims line a walkway in Orlando as a memorial to those killed. (Bottom) A procession with the casket of Christopher Andrew Leinonen, one of the 49 victims killed, enters a church for Leinonen's funeral on June 18. **David Goldman/AP** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
David Goldman/AP
Meanwhile, [gun sales increased](http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/06/16/gun-sales-in-florida-soar-after-orlando-shooting/) in the days following the massacre. A Florida congressional candidate announced [a contest on Facebook](http://www.gregevers.com/evers_homeland_defender_giveaway) to give away an AR-15 rifle, similar to the weapon Mateen used, on July 4.
In Washington, D.C., the Senate voted on four gun-control measures. [All four failed](http://www.npr.org/2016/06/20/482783071/here-are-the-4-gun-proposals-the-senate-is-voting-on-monday-again).
Dr. Joshua Corsa, a surgeon who was on duty at the Orlando Regional Medical Center the night of the attack, [has vowed](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/17/482532247/a-surgeons-bloodstained-shoes-have-become-a-symbol-of-orlandos-defiance) to continue wearing the bloodstained shoes he had on that night, until every wounded victim is discharged from the hospital.
On Thursday, 11 days after the attack, Pulse's owner [hosted a "Latin Night"](http://www.npr.org/2016/06/24/483337005/orlando-club-reopens-after-49-patrons-were-killed-in-deadliest-u-s-shooting) street party for employees, patrons and friends, with music blaring and a dance floor in a restaurant parking lot. A thousand people showed up. "It's not a party, really, but I feel happy to see everyone," [said one Pulse patron,](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/pulse-orlando-nightclub-shooting/os-pulse-fundraising-event-coverage-20160623-story.html) who'd survived after hiding in a bathroom during the June 12 attack. "We needed this."
The section of Orlando's Orange Avenue near Pulse has reopened for business and traffic, though the club itself remains closed for now. "We can't feel normal yet after what happened," a Pulse employee [told the *Orlando Sentinel*.](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/sns-bc-us--nightclub-shooting-street-party-20160624-story.html) But life is returning to a scarred city.
At Orlando's Lake Eola, a flag flies at half-staff on June 14 for victims of the Pulse shooting. **Drew Angerer/Getty Images** ****hide caption****
****toggle caption****
Drew Angerer/Getty Images |
| Shard | 170 (laksa) |
| Root Hash | 156162564976766770 |
| Unparsed URL | org,npr!www,/2016/06/16/482322488/orlando-shooting-what-happened-update s443 |