Fresh details spur debate on police response to Orlando massacre

 (Reuters) – The release of police dispatch records offering new details from witnesses of the Orlando nightclub massacre provided fresh grist yesterday for the debate about whether law enforcement waited too long to take out the gunman. About three hours passed on June 12 between the firing of the first shots and the killing of the hostage-taking shooter, prompting people to ask on social media and in emails to public officials whether quicker police action could have saved lives.

Orlando, Florida, authorities on Tuesday released new details including 911 operator notes and text and email messages received by the police chief whose officers fatally shot the gunman, Omar Mateen, after he killed 49 people and wounded 53 more.

The call log provides a minute-by-minute account as reported to emergency dispatchers, offering the most detailed timeline yet of the incident as it unfolded. The three-hour duration of the episode was already known.