ORLANDO, Florida (AP) -- Officials are giving more details about the law enforcement response to a mass shooting that left 50 dead at a gay Florida nightclub.
Orlando police Chief John Mina says an extra officer was working at the Pulse nightclub in full uniform. The officer engaged with the shooter near an entrance. Additional officers entered, and engaged the suspect in another gunbattle. The shooter retreated to the bathroom.
Mina says, "At that time we were able to save and rescue dozens and dozens of people and get them out of the club."
Officers then secured everything, and the SWAT team was brought in. Mina says officers then set up for an explosive breach on the bathroom wall. Mina says he made the decision to breach the wall, which created a hole through which dozens of clubgoers were rescued. Then the suspect exited through the same hole, and engaged in another gunbattle with officers. Shooter Omar Mateen was then killed.
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