Making the call

Three hours and thirty-three minutes. That’s how much time elapsed—start to finish—from the moment the armed gunman attempted entry into Pulse nightclub, to the time Orlando officers confirmed he was dead. In three hours and thirty-three minutes (2:02 am to 5:35 am) the 29-year-old perpetrator managed to kill 49 people and injured 53 more in an act of utterly senseless violence.
In that span of those crazed minutes and seconds Orlando PD officers, SWAT and first responders made some tough (and maybe not so tough) decisions. Try to imagine yourself in those officers’ shoes: After perhaps a week or even year of uneventful shifts you find yourself having to make a call and take action that is consequential, life-threatening or life-saving.
When an off-duty officer Adam Gruler encountered the gunman outside the club he made the call to return fire. Maybe that wasn’t a tough decision to make. But there he was in the early morning—armed and faced with a threat to himself and to others.
More officers boldly followed Gruler to the scene that morning and engaged in a gun battle, finally forcing Mateen to retreat to a bathroom where officers believe he had four to five hostages, according to the New York Times. After some back-and-forth with the gunman by phone Orlando Chief John Mina made the call to end a three-hour standoff and ordered the assault that killed Mateen and freed countless hostages inside.
Seven days ago (as of press time) Orlando PD has named 11 heroes who helped to take the gunman down, including off-duty Officer Gruler; the first patrol unit on-scene; and the SWAT team, whose leader breached the exterior wall so hostages could escape.
Responding to this scene was no doubt a nightmare. It’s apparent that careful training kicked in and was kicked into high gear. But there was still that element of timing, instinct and of course, courage for those officers who went in the nightclub looking to stop a deadly threat and save innocent lives. Another officer hero, Officer Omar Delgado, pulled Angel Colon out of the club that night and managed to save his life. Colon had been shot three times and was critically injured. Delgado recently visited Colon in the hospital and the two had an emotional reunion.
We never know what kinds of decisions we’ll be called on to make. I am comforted; however, when I think of the responders and helpers who show up every time. Who outnumber those seeking to cause hurt and destruction, every time.