The Orlando Sentinel and 24 other news outlets are suing the City of Orlando to released hundreds of 911 calls made on the day of the June 12 massacre at Pulse nightclub.
The lawsuit is also seeking radio communication between first responders during the early morning attack, which left 49 dead and 53 others injured.
The City of Orlando, at the direction of Mayor Buddy Dyer, has also filed a separate complaint with a circuit court seeking guidance on which records — including the 911 calls — must be released in accordance with Florida Freedom of Information Act law, according to Courthouse News Service.
In the media lawsuit, lawyers argue the records should be released because there is “a strong public interest in fully evaluating how first responders and police reacted during the most critical phases of this incredible tragedy.”
The City of Orlando, however, says, “[t]he unreleased portions of the Pulse Shooting Recordings are believed to depict ‘the killing of persons’ as defined by Florida Law, and may include the sound of gunfire, victims voices and the suffering perpetrated on the Pulse Shooting victims.”
“Out of respect for the Pulse Shooting victims and their families, and pursuant to Florida law and the direction of the FBI, the City has not released the remainder of the Pulse Shooting Recordings,” the city’s response says.
According to the city, the Orlando police and fire departments received 603 telephone calls in the three hours between the initial shooting at the death of the shooter, Omar Mateen, by police. Of those, 166 were made to the 911 system.
“In response to these requests, the city is attempting to satisfy the requirements of state law, the direction from the FBI, the needs of the media and Mayor Dyer’s commitment to be responsive and transparent to the public,” the city said in a statement.
According to the mayor’s office, there are still “hundreds of 911 communications that cannot be released until the city receives guidance from the court.”
“It is important that we are completely open with the community about what happened that night at Pulse,” Mayor Dyer said. “We support the FBI’s commitment not to compromise the integrity of the investigation, but we must balance that with our responsibility to be transparent with the Orlando community and comply with state and federal laws.”
So far, the FBI has only released a 50-second 911 call made by the gunman from inside Pulse. Mateen spoke for nearly 30 minutes with crisis negotiators before he died in a shootout with police, but those records have since been withheld.
