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'It's a relief': No Pulse victims were shot by officers, new review says

By Sarah Wilson and Karla Ray, WFTV.com
By Sarah Wilson and Karla Ray, WFTV.com

ORLANDO, Fla. — Law enforcement fired more than 180 shots during the Pulse nightclub shooting and none of them hit civilians, according to a six-month-long review by the FBI.

Eight bullets hit the shooter, the review said. One bullet was into his head as he was on the ground with a gun inches from his hand.

State Attorney Aramis Ayala announced the report’s findings during a press conference on Wednesday.

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The report said 14 law enforcement officers fired their service weapons during the shooting. Eleven of those were members of the Orlando Police Department. The other three were members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

“As our city grieves the senseless tragedy of the Pulse nightclub shooting, I hope sharing the results of this investigation helps the survivors and loved ones find some closure,” Ayala said in a release.

During the press conference, Chief Assistant State Attorney Deborah Barra described five different moments in which law enforcement fired their weapons during the early-morning hours of June 12, 2016.

FULL VIDEO: State Attorney's office describes officers' encounters with officers

The first and second times were done by the officer who was working at Pulse that night on an off-duty detail. Barra said that officer fired approximately seven times from two different locations toward the shooter but didn't hit him or anyone else.

The third incident happened when officers were inside the club guarding the doors to the bathrooms where the shooter was holding people hostage.

Barra said a survivor crawled out of the south bathroom and didn't comply with commands, so officers fired, thinking he may have been the shooter. She said the person was not hit and was later able to be pulled to safety.

The fourth and fifth incidents were direct engagements with the shooter, Omar Mateen.

After using flashbangs to lure the shooter out of the bathroom, the shooter raised his weapon and fired twice, hitting an OPD officer and a survivor, who was running away, in the calf.

That's when, Barra said, officers opened fire on Mateen. After he fell to the ground, an officer fired a final shot to his head.

In all of those engagements, the state attorney found no evidence that any survivor or victim was hit by friendly fire.

"The ending of the night... everything felt like a war zone," said Orlando Torres, who hid in a bathroom stall that night, playing dead with Mateen just a few feet away. Torres said hearing that no civilians were shot by police is something the victims' families have been waiting to hear for almost two and half years.

Cox Media Group

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