Las Vegas concert shooting reminds Orlando of Pulse
Local leaders voice support for city after at least 59 die
Watching the tragic details emerge from a mass shooting in Las Vegas was a grim reminder Monday for Mayor Buddy Dyer and other Orlando officials who guided the city through the Pulse nightclub massacre last year.
It was “starkly similar,” Dyer said.
By Monday evening, at least 59 had died in Las Vegas to become the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, surpassing the Pulse fatal victim count of 49.
Dyer said he called Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, whom he described as a friend, to offer Orlando’s support and guidance.
“I let her know that we understood how they were feeling, that we had endured such a tragedy, and I believe that it is our unique responsibility to share our knowledge and our experience,” Dyer said.
Dyer urged Central Floridians who want to help the victims in Las Vegas to donate blood to OneBlood, the region’s blood bank.
Spokeswoman Susan Forbes said OneBlood has gotten many calls from would-be donors. While it can’t promise donations in Orlando will go to those wounded in Nevada, “you’re helping save someone’s life, either locally or elsewhere,” she said.
Thoris Burt, 39, was at OneBlood for a previously scheduled appointment Monday, but he said it seemed “very important, especially now, that I donate.”
Burt also gave blood after Pulse, he said.
Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said she was “deeply shocked and saddened to hear of the horrific Las Vegas shooting.”
“Stay strong, Las Vegas,” she said in a statement. “We are with you in spirit, prayer and deed throughout your journey.”
Asked whether he was frustrated that efforts to reform state and federal gun laws after Pulse had stalled, Dyer said, “I am going to do what I can to lend my support to Las Vegas and anyone who needs it in Orlando. We’ll leave the political debate for another day.”
But state Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, renewed her call to ban the sale of assault weapons in Florida.
Her bill, SB 196, was filed Sunday, before the Las Vegas shooting. It defines assault weapons as “capable of fully automatic, semiautomatic, or burst fire at the option of the user” and specifies several weapon types, including AK-47s and AR-15s. It also would ban magazines with more than seven rounds.
Stewart and state Rep. Carlos Guillermo-Smith, D-Orlando, filed similar legislation last year, but it was not heard. Stewart said she knows her bill won’t pass in a Republican-controlled Legislature but still would like it to be heard in committee.
“It’s not fair for the [National Rifle Association] to have the only discussion,” Stewart said.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings, a 2018 mayoral candidate, stopped short of supporting an assault weapons ban, but he said the discussion should continue “about what guns or what firearms should be made available to the public.”
Authorities say Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, killed at least 59 people and wounded more than 500 when he opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. The victims were attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival, a country music event.
Until Sunday, the massacre at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub had been considered the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. A gunman killed 49 clubgoers and wounded at least 68 others on June 12, 2016.
Police Chief John Mina said his “heart just broke” upon hearing the news in Las Vegas. He and Orlando Fire Chief Roderick Williams reached out to their counterparts in Nevada, they said.
“I also this morning reached out to all of my officers, and my message was twofold: one, to make sure that they remain extremely vigilant … and also to let them know that these type of events, mass shootings, have a tendency to bring back our own memories,” Mina said.
Mina said Las Vegas Police attended a presentation by Orlando Police on lessons learned from the Pulse attack. “I hope that our lessons learned did help them and maybe helped save lives,” Mina said.
In a statement, Pulse owner Barbara Poma said it was “unimaginable that another mass shooting of even greater scope than that of Pulse Nightclub could occur again in this country, but indeed, it has.”
“We must work harder to stop these crimes that destroy human life,” Poma said. “We pray for those whose lives were taken, as well as for the wounded and the hundreds who will forever be affected by this monumental tragedy.”