The Orlando Police Department has closed its investigation into the former owners of the Pulse nightclub without filing any charges. Victims' families and survivors of the killing of 49 patrons at the LGBTQ-friendly club had asked law enforcement to investigate them for criminal culpability. No charges will be filed against former owners Barbara and Rosario Poma because probable cause didn't exist for involuntary manslaughter by culpable negligence, police said in a statement to the AP.
- About two dozen people, mostly survivors and family members of those who died in the 2016 shooting, gave statements to investigators. They said that building plans weren't available to first responders during the three hours hostages were held in the club and that unpermitted renovations and building modifications had occurred.
- They also maintained that the club was likely above capacity, that it had operated for years in violation of its conditional use permit, and that there were security and risk-management failures.
- Investigators concluded that the lack of building plans didn't hamper rescuers, that it was impossible to identify how many people were in the club that night, that the city of Orlando never took any action against Pulse when the nightclub changed its interior, and that there were too many unknowns about how gunman Omar Mateen entered.
- None of the Pomas' actions were done "with a reckless disregard for human life," and "they could not have reasonably foreseen or anticipated a terrorist incident taking place at Pulse," investigators wrote in a report.
- Mateen opened fire during a Latin night celebration June 12, 2016, leaving 49 dead and 53 wounded. At the time, it was the worst mass shooting in modern US history. Mateen, who had pledged allegiance to ISIS, was killed after a three-hour standoff with police.
(The city of Orlando
purchased the Pulse property last year for $2 million.)
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