Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire ORLANDO: Why the 3hr wait, by swat

Mateen, armed with a handgun and long gun, began his deadly spree around 2 a.m., engaging in a gun battle with a uniformed off-duty officer working security at the club’s entrance before he started shooting club patrons, wounding 53 in addition to the dozens killed, Orlando Police Chief John Mina said. Additional officers quickly responded, forcing Mateen to retreat into a bathroom with about four or five hostages while authorities rescued “dozens of injured and non-injured” from the dance floor and lounge and bar area, Mina said.

In the bathroom for about three hours, Mateen called 911 to pledge his allegiance to ISIS and engaged in unproductive negotiations with police. Mateen claimed he had a bomb vest and explosives, Mina said, though authorities have not said either of those supposed ordinances was ever found.

“He was cool and calm when he was making those phone calls to us,” Mina said.

Negotiations were mostly one-sided as police tried to resolve the assault without further loss of life.

“He really wasn’t asking for a whole lot and we were doing most of the asking,” Mina said.

There were no shots fired during the time Mateen was in the bathroom, Mina said. However, at least one of the hostages, who had been texting his mother, was later discovered among the dead.

Authorities came to believe “further loss of life was imminent” around 5 a.m., prompting a rescue operation that involved an explosive breach of the bathroom wall. But the explosion did not penetrate the wall completely, so an armored SWAT vehicle known as a BearCat was used to puncture a three-foot wide hole in the wall, about two feet off the ground, Mina said.