Cops were ordered NOT to pursue Orlando gunman during massacre: Officer says he was told to wait while victims lay dead and dying and Mateen fled to club bathroom
Officer Brandon Cornwell, 25, from Belle Isle, has given an account
He says he was at Pulse within minutes of Omar Mateen’s arrival on scene
But he says he was told to wait for SWAT team and eventually withdrew
It is not clear how many of the 49 victims were killed while cops waited
By CHRIS SUMMERS
DailyMail.com
22 June 2016
A police officer who was one of the first to arrive at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando has claimed he was made to wait while Omar Mateen wandered around the club gunning people down.
The FBI said this week that police first responders ‘engaged the shooter’ inside the club at 2.08am but Officer Brandon Cornwell said he had been told to wait for a SWAT team to arrive.
It is known that Mateen, who was heavily armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and a handgun and was feared to be carrying explosives, had an exchange of fire with a security guard when he first arrived at the LGBT club, which was holding its regular Latino night.
Five or six Orlando cops arrived on the scene within minutes, broke through a large glass window and entered the club as Mateen hunted down victims inside.
Officer Cornwell, 25, told the Washington Post he was one of those police first responders and has given an account of the terrifying moments as they waited for orders outside the darkened club.
He said: ‘There was tons of people running out of the club. I grabbed my assault rifle and ran toward the club. At this point, the shooter is still actively shooting inside.’
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