{"id":3827,"date":"2026-06-12T12:35:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T12:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3827"},"modified":"2026-06-12T12:35:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T12:35:19","slug":"pulse-anniversary-police-chief-was-stoic-but-later-realized-this-is-huge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3827","title":{"rendered":"Pulse anniversary: Police chief was stoic but later realized \u2018this is huge\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Orlando Police Chief John Mina woke up early June 11 to a tragedy. Singer Christina Grimmie had been fatally shot hours before while signing autographs outside The Plaza Live in the Milk District.<\/p>\n

Read more Watch Live: SpaceX set for morning launch from Cape Canaveral same day as its IPO<\/a><\/p>\n

He looked forward to a proper night\u2019s sleep after a long day of briefings and fielding reporters\u2019 questions. Then came a call after 2 a.m. on June 12 \u2014 at least 20 people were dead at the Pulse nightclub.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first thought was that it must be some type of gang-related thing in the nightclub,\u201d Mina, now Orange County sheriff, said. \u201cThen it turned into a hostage situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mina worked from a mobile command center on scene. Officers outside the nightclub traded gunfire throughout a three-hour standoff with the shooter, Omar Mateen.<\/p>\n

One officer, Michael Napolitano, was shot in the head, the round miraculously stopped by his ballistic helmet. But 49 partygoers lost their lives and 58 more were wounded as Mateen fired relentlessly using a military-style weapon.<\/p>\n

Mina tried to remain stoic through it all. Then he made it home, and the enormity of what had happened set in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember after that first night just sitting on the couch taking a breath and watching all the national news coverage of our agency and our city, the people in our community that had been killed,\u201d Mina said. \u201cThat\u2019s when I was like, \u2018Wow, this is huge.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Editorial: The day after Pulse, a message of grief and hope<\/a><\/p>\n

It got even bigger. With Mateen pledging allegiance to the Islamic State, the FBI got involved. That led to a behind-the-scenes tussle between OPD and federal authorities about what to release to the public and when.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In the aftermath, resentment grew about how OPD responded to the shooting. There were accusations that officers delayed confronting Mateen, and that their failures were covered up, controversy that rages in some quarters to this day.<\/p>\n

But many lives were saved that night. And Mina points to federal and state investigations that\u00a0cleared officers accused of accidentally killing some victims from friendly fire.\u00a0Records of the full FBI probe, however, still have not been released.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Mina has sought to put the lessons of that night into practice.<\/p>\n

Today, Mina said, OPD and the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Office conduct active shooter trainings annually, far more frequently than prior to Pulse. He also invested in rifle-rated ballistic armor for his subordinates while pushing to acquire military-style vehicles and upgraded breaching equipment for SWAT teams.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As for the Orlando community, he sees it today as being more protective of its LGBTQ and Hispanic residents. But 10-year-old scars remain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think more people pay attention to their surroundings than before,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I also saw this community come together with love instead of hate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Pulse anniversary: A memorial, long controversial, should be done in 2027<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Orlando Police Chief John Mina woke up early June 11 to a tragedy. Singer Christina Grimmie had been fatally shot hours before while signing autographs outside The Plaza Live in the Milk District. He looked forward to a proper night\u2019s sleep after a long day of briefings and fielding reporters\u2019 questions. Then came a call [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPulse anniversary: Police chief was stoic but later realized \u2018this is huge\u2019 - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=3827\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pulse anniversary: Police chief was stoic but later realized \u2018this is huge\u2019 - Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Orlando Police Chief John Mina woke up early June 11 to a tragedy. 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