News

Attorney: Orlando Intends to Release More Pulse 9-1-1 Calls

09/20/2016

Sept. 20--A judge on Monday rejected the city of Orlando's request to keep the U.S. Department of Justice as a party in an ongoing lawsuit over the release of 911 calls made during the Pulse nightclub shooting.

Orange-Osceola Circuit Judge Margaret Schreiber also determined that news organizations filed their lawsuit first and dismissed a later complaint submitted by the city.

"While certainly this case involves an exceptionally tragic set of facts and circumstances, there's been no showing of the type of exceptional circumstances" that would merit straying from normal procedure, Schreiber said at a hearing.

The city and more than two dozen media outlets, including the Orlando Sentinel, are embroiled in a public-records lawsuit over the release of 603 calls made to Orlando police emergency services during the June 12 shooting. The FBI initially told the city not to release any calls from the attack, which killed 49 people and hurt more than 50 others.

The Department of Justice voluntarily dismissed its claim in state court and withdrew an appeal in federal court before the hearing. It finished using the calls for its criminal and terrorism investigation and said their release would not interfere with the FBI's activities.

The city said it would release all calls except for those that depict the killing of a person, an exemption in Florida's broad public-records laws, according to Darryl Bloodworth, who is representing the city in the civil suit.

It's unclear how many calls will be made public. Schreiber required him to file an itemized list of calls the city plans to withhold, and the reason, on Wednesday.

Among the calls are 28 minutes of phone conversation between crisis negotiators and Pulse shooter Omar Mateen, who was holed up in the bathroom for three hours with hostages after shooting up the club. Law officers shot him dead.

The city has released about 30 calls so far.

echerney@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5735