Orlando Police Chief shed light on the final moments of the terror attack in Pulse nightclub, Florida.
50 people lost their lives in the largest mass shooting in US history, as gunman Omar Mateen, a native of Port St. Lucie, Florida, opened fire in popular gay nightclub injuring a further 53.
John Mina, Orlando Police Chief, detailed the actions officers took to end the attack.
29-year-old Omar, who called 911 and pledged allegiance to Islamic State before carrying out the attack, evaded two attempts by police to stop further casualties before a team of “eight or nine” officers blasted a hole in the side of the club building and shot him dead as he escaped.
According to Sky News, expert negotiators were brought in to persuade the Omar to surrender, however, a rescue attempt was made after he holed himself and hostages in the club toilets and claimed he had explosives that would kill more innocent clubbers “imminently”.
Sky News also reports:
Friends and co-workers have described Mateen as homophobic and “mentally unstable,” while his ex-wife said he was violent and had biploar disorder.
An off-duty Orlando officer working at Pulse nightclub had a gun battle with Matten after he first opened fire in the venue at around 2am on Sunday morning.
Chief Mina ordered that a BearCat armoured vehicle and explosives create a hole in the wall of the club to provide an escape route for clubbers trapped inside.
#Orlando chief of police says they did try to negotiate with the #Pulsenightclub shooter to save hostages’ lives https://t.co/v3O477xc87
— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 13, 2016
The Orlando massacre is now regarded as the deadliest terror attack since 9/11.
