Orange County Sheriff releases new batch of documents from Pulse shooting
ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Orange County deputies arrived to hear gunfire at Pulse Nightclub, in the early morning hours of June 12. In 98 pages of incident reports released by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, deputies detail their individual involvement in the shooting.
One deputy describes the scene as "chaotic," and victims and witnesses as "hysterical." Several deputies wrote that they arrived on the scene to see people running out of the club. One deputy wrote that he saw, "individuals running out of the club covered in blood with gunshot wounds." Another deputy wrote that he saw, "numerous subjects running from the club in a panic."
Report after report describes law enforcement carrying bodies, helping victims who were alive, and going back inside the club to help get more people out. One deputy describes the scene inside the club as overwhelming.
"So many lifeless bodies lying throughout the club, that it was impossible to physically check everyone." Law enforcement was working against the clock to save victims and scouring the property for explosives.
In one incident report, a deputy approaches several victims who were injured but alert. After helping them to safety, he says he was trying to get information about the shooter, but all the victim could say was, "I'm scared, please talk to me. I don't want to die."
The reports describe victim's injuries in graphic detail and show the enormity of the shooting, as the death toll grew and more and more victims tried to get out. Line after line describes law enforcement going back into the club and "extracting" more victims, without being sure of where the shooter was.
A deputy describes a "volley of shots" after law enforcement exercised an "explosive breach," taking out the shooter.
In one of the last reports, a deputy sums up the totality of the shooting with 10 words: "I witnessed exceptional heroism in the face of indescribable horror."