Two dozen survivors of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting on June 12, 2016, along with family members of nine of the 49 victims, have filed a lawsuit against Orlando Police Department and the city claiming that they violated the civil rights of the people who were in the club when shots rang out. The lawsuit blames the police for refusing to go inside and confront the gunman.
“These defendants chose to allow the patrons of the club to be massacred while these defendants ensured only that they themselves were safe,” the federal lawsuit states. “These defendants knew that there were innocent people being massacred and that they themselves were the only ones who could stop it, and that it was their job to do so, yet they still, in a manner [that] shocks the conscience, chose to disregard the safety of the patrons while instead ensuring only that they themselves were safe.”
Police officers are usually granted immunity from lawsuits when somebody dies or is injured, but Solomon Radner, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, argued that their "actions rose to a level" that “shocks the conscience — a legal standard that means the actions were especially unjust."
He argued that the police department did not properly train officers for a mass shooting and that the off-duty officer working security should have done more to stop the shooter. He also claimed that the civil rights of the survivors were violated when they were detained against their will and had their property seized.
The lawsuit names Officer Adam Gruler as a defendant. Gruler, who was working security at the club on June 12, fired at the gunman from outside the club but did not enter, allowing the shooter to unload hundreds of rounds in less than five minutes.
One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit is former Eatonville, Florida police officer Omar Delgado, who helped direct people to safety when he arrived. Delgado was fired from his job after he was unable to return work because of PTSD.
Photo: Getty Images