Showtime’s ‘Active Shooter’ series will focus on Pulse

Showtime’s latest documentary series, “Active Shooter: America Under Fire,” turns its focus to Orlando tonight in an episode revealing the Pulse nightclub massacre’s traumatic ripple effects on survivors, first responders and their families.

“I sat through multiple screenings of various cuts of all the episodes, and I cried every time … especially that episode,” said executive producer Aaron Saidman. “It’s in some ways more difficult to watch . ... Just hearing [the story] from the point of view of someone trapped in a bathroom stall is a whole different experience.”

The eight-part series, which began airing two days before the Oct. 1 shooting in Las Vegas, examines the nation’s modern-day spate of mass shootings, including incidents in Aurora, Colo.; San Bernardino, Calif.; Charleston, S.C.; and Columbine, Colo.

It was inspired, Saidman said, when he and producing partner Eli Holzman heard about a 911 operator haunted by the barrage of callers pleading for help during the 2013 shooting spree in Santa Monica, Calif., which left six dead.

“Eli and I looked at each other and said, ‘Oh, this is an epidemic that is affecting people we never think about, and it’s affecting them in these cruel and immeasurable ways,’ ” he said. “The series is a way to consider these people as relatable human beings who have suffered a horrible tragedy — not just statistics.”

Tonight’s episode, which airs at 9, includes interviews with club-goers, a Pulse security guard, the late columnist and activist Billy Manes and a former police officer left with debilitating post-traumatic stress after dealing with the bodies of the dead.

Saidman hopes the series — spared from “talking heads shouting over each other” about gun control — will provoke a more contemplative discussion of what can be done to stem the violence, he said.