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Deputies release body cam footage from inside Orlando's Pulse shooting scene

 
In this June 12 photo, law enforcement officials work at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando after a mass shooting. [Associated Press]
In this June 12 photo, law enforcement officials work at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando after a mass shooting. [Associated Press]
Published Nov. 11, 2016

ORLANDO — The Orange County Sheriff's Office on Thursday released hours of body camera footage from deputies who responded to the Pulse nightclub shooting.

About two dozen videos released show law enforcement responding to the club June 12. Some show officers going inside where gunman Omar Mateen barricaded himself inside a bathroom while others offer details about what was happening outside.

In one video, law enforcement officers were in the process of clearing the club entrances, making sure nobody was getting in. The deputy in the video was stationed at one entrance, rifle drawn, waiting for orders.

Then a cellphone started ringing.

"Is that yours?" the deputy asked someone next to him. "It's not mine."

The phone kept ringing. The deputy peeked behind a Coca-Cola-branded fridge into what looked like a well-lit club kitchen. The ringing got louder, but he couldn't see the phone. The ringing stopped, and the deputy got back into position.

The microphone on his body camera recorded radio chatter, a helicopter flying overhead, and the sound of some shuffling.

The same ringtone can be heard two more times. After about 20 minutes, the deputy got an order to back away from the club and left his post.

In another video, which is redacted and only has audio, a deputy says he was scared after hearing the slew of shots erupt.

"Those shots sounded so damn close when we were standing here," the officer said. "This guy came prepared."

In the background, officers get word that a vehicle in the parking lot possibly has ammunition inside.

Another redacted video shows deputies lined up in the doorway of the club, all wearing blue hospital gloves.

"I'm just hoping to God my buddy Nick wasn't in here," one deputy said.

In the background, a dispatcher is heard over the radio calling out the number of victims still trapped inside the bathrooms and dressing rooms.

"What kind of (expletive) up person would do this?" the deputy asks.

Minutes later, dispatchers inform officers that bomb dogs from the University of Central Florida are on the way. A worried deputy says they need to get here quick.

In a video about 5 a.m., deputies moved from parking lot to parking lot, moving gurneys into position and searching victims for possible bombs as they fled.

More than a dozen officers moved closer to the club then fell back when they were told that it was not safe to be so close.

At one point, they were told, "No shooting. No shooting."

Several minutes later an officer tells the others, "A SWAT guy took one in the helmet," a reference to Orlando Officer Brian Napolitano, who suffered a minor injury from a bullet fired by Mateen.

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"When they breached, he took one round," the unidentified officer said of Napolitano.

Shortly after, there's an announcement that the gunman is down. A deputy said four people were found in one bathroom and nine in another. It was not clear whether they were alive or dead.

The videos are the latest batch of public records released in the aftermath of the shooting, which left 49 people dead and at least 68 injured.

Also Thursday, a judge ruled in favor of the city of Orlando releasing many of the 911 calls made during the shooting. Some will be released in audio form and the rest will be released as transcripts. The city said they will be released at some point next week.

©2016 Orlando Sentinel (Orlando)