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Pulse Nightclub Shooting

SOLVED2016Pulse nightclub, Orlando, Florida, United States3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026

Documents violence · crimes against children · ongoing investigation — written to inform, not to shock.

Illustrative

On the night of June 11–12, 2016, Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida was hosting "Latin Night," a weekly event drawing a primarily Latino crowd, with roughly 320 patrons still inside near closing time. At approximately 2:02 a.m., 29-year-old Omar Mateen entered the club armed with a SIG Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle and a 9mm Glock 17 pistol, bypassing an off-duty officer working security, and began shooting patrons. Within about five minutes he had fired approximately 200 rounds. Mateen retreated into a bathroom area, taking hostages, and held a standoff with police for roughly three hours.

During the attack, Mateen made a 911 call and additional calls to police negotiators and a local news station, in which he swore allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, referenced the Boston Marathon bombers, and said the U.S. killing of ISIS commander Abu Waheeb the previous month had "triggered" the shooting. He told a negotiator to tell the U.S. government to stop bombing Iraq and Syria. The FBI classified the attack as an act of terrorism.

Police officers engaged Mateen multiple times during the standoff. At 5:02 a.m., after Mateen re-entered a bathroom and opened fire on hostages, officers used a controlled explosion and an armored vehicle to breach a wall of the building. Mateen was drawn into a hallway confrontation with officers at 5:14 a.m. and was shot eight times, dying at the scene; he was declared "down" at 5:17 a.m.

Forty-nine victims were killed, including 38 who died at the scene and eleven who died later at local hospitals; 58 others were injured, 53 by gunfire. Over 90% of the victims were of Hispanic background, about half of Puerto Rican descent, with additional Dominican and Mexican nationals among the dead. The attack was, at the time, the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter in modern U.S. history and the deadliest attack targeting LGBTQ people in U.S. history, as well as the deadliest terrorist attack in the U.S. since September 11, 2001.

Mateen had been the subject of two prior FBI investigations, in 2013 and 2014, both of which were closed without findings that warranted further action. He had worked as a security guard since 2007 and held a valid Florida firearms license. His father, Seddique Mateen, said his son had grown angry after seeing a gay couple kiss months before the attack, though the FBI found no verified evidence that Mateen was gay or had frequented gay venues. In the aftermath, the City of Orlando, the FBI, and law enforcement agencies released transcripts, 911 calls, and body-camera footage over subsequent months, and multiple fundraising and victim-assistance efforts, including the OneOrlando Fund and Equality Florida's GoFundMe campaign, raised millions of dollars for survivors and victims' families. The City of Orlando later acquired the Pulse site for a permanent memorial.

Key facts

Victims
On file
Date
2016
Location
Pulse nightclub, Orlando, Florida, United States
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 2016-06-11

    Pulse nightclub in Orlando hosts "Latin Night"; approximately 320 patrons remain inside near closing time.

  2. 2016-06-12

    At approximately 2:02 a.m., Omar Mateen enters Pulse armed with a rifle and pistol and begins shooting patrons.

  3. 2016-06-12

    At 2:22 a.m., Mateen places a 911 call swearing allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

  4. 2016-06-12

    Between 2:48 a.m. and 3:27 a.m., police negotiators speak with Mateen by phone three times during the hostage standoff.

  5. 2016-06-12

    At approximately 5:02 a.m., Mateen opens fire on hostages in a bathroom; police begin breaching the building's wall.

  6. 2016-06-12

    At 5:14 a.m., Mateen engages officers in a hallway shootout and is shot eight times; he is reported "down" at 5:17 a.m.

  7. 2016-06-12

    At 5:53 a.m., Orlando police announce via Twitter that the shooter inside the club is dead.

  8. 2016-06-14

    Autopsies of the 49 victims are completed by the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office.

  9. 2016-06-15

    The Orlando Family Assistance Center opens at Camping World Stadium to assist victims and families.

  10. 2016-06-20

    The FBI releases a transcript of the first 911 call by the shooter and a summary of negotiator calls.

  11. 2016-09-06

    The last injured survivor is discharged from Orlando Regional Medical Center.

  12. 2016-09-10

    Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services fines G4S Secure Solutions $151,400 over psychological testing lapses related to Mateen's employment.

  13. 2016-10-31

    The City of Orlando releases about 30 minutes of recordings of police negotiators speaking with Mateen, following a court ruling.

  14. 2016-11

    The City of Orlando announces plans to purchase the Pulse nightclub site for a memorial.

  15. 2016-12

    The nightclub's owner declines to sell the site to the city, citing emotional attachment, and later establishes the OnePulse Foundation.

  16. 2018-03

    During the trial of Mateen's wife for allegedly aiding the attack, defense evidence indicates Mateen searched for nightclubs and selected Pulse partly due to its lack of security.

  17. 2023-10

    OnePulse Foundation's plans for a memorial and museum are permanently suspended; the City of Orlando approves purchase of the site for a permanent memorial.

  18. 2026-03-18

    The Pulse nightclub building is demolished to make way for a planned permanent memorial.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • Omar Mateen

    CHARGED

    Identified by law enforcement as the perpetrator who carried out the shooting; killed by police at the scene and never tried in court.

    citation on file

Places

Pulse nightclub, Orlando, Florida, United States

28.5196, -81.3768

View on the map

Common questions

What happened to the victim?
On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people and wounded 58 others at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, during a Latin Night event, before being fatally shot by police after a three-hour standoff.
Where did the shooting happen?
Pulse nightclub, Orlando, Florida, United States.
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.

Sources

  1. Pulse nightclub shootingwikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-07
  2. Contemporaneous coverage — Last Call at Orlando Club, and Then the Shots Rang Outnews · The New York Times · 2026-07-07
  3. Contemporaneous coverage — What Really Happened the Night of Pulsenews · NBC News · 2026-07-07
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