'Tonight, we had a crime that will have a lasting effect on our community,' Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said in a news conference.ĭyer said said that he contacted the White House, which granted a request to waive Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act - or HIPPA law - in order to allow hospitals to contact the families of the injured. Orlando police bomb squad arrived at the scene to search the area and remove any 'devices' similar to the one worn by the gunman that may have been placed inside the club. The officers involved in the shootout were relieved of their duty and will be investigated by the Florida department of law enforcement, in what Mina said was standard practice.Īn explosion was reported in the area of the nightclub but police described it as 'a controlled explosion by law enforcement.'
Officers killed the gunman Mateen, in a series of shootouts in which one officer sustained a head injury after a bullet hit his helmet.
