At Only In Florida, we sometimes write about crime in the Sunshine State, but we’re usually focused on things like Florida’s most dangerous towns – those with the highest crime rate. We never could have guessed that our state would be the place with the most deadly mass shooting in U.S. history this year. As we look back on 2016, we’ll never forget the events at a nightclub in Orlando on June 12th.

The Pulse was a popular club for Orlando's LGBT community.
Rick Singh/Wikipedia
It hosted sparkling parties and drag shows and had a vibrant, glitzy nightlife scene. The Pulse was also heavily involved in community outreach, HIV education, breast cancer awareness and immigrant rights issues, partnering with organizations such as Equality Florida and the Zebra Coalition.
In the early morning hours of June 12, 2016 (around 2:00 a.m.), tragedy struck when a Omar Mateen entered the club and began firing.
CC/Wikipedia
Over a period of three hours, during which he held club patrons and employees hostage, he killed 49 people and injured 53.

At 5:07 a.m., police breached the wall of the nightclub, using a BearCat armored vehicle, and engaged in a shootout with the perpetrator. They shot him eight times, killing him.

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Omar Mateen was a 29-year-old security guard.
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles/Wikipedia
Prior the attack, he stated on Facebook that he wanted vengeance for American airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. He was also known for his discrimination of black, hispanic and Jewish people, as well as members of the LGBT community.
The Orlando community rallied around the victims' loved ones and the survivors of the horrific attack.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Wikipedia
People expressed their sympathy and love at a memorial outside the club. Hundreds lined up to donate blood, and many organizations raised money for the victims and their families. Equality Florida immediately raised $767,000 within hours, and increased its fundraising campaign to over $7.85 million in the weeks following. A victim's assistance center was opened, providing grief counseling to anyone in need.

In November, the city of Orlando purchased the nightclub. Mayor Buddy Dyer stated that the city plans to create a permanent memorial.

How do you think that the city of Orlando can continue to recover from this terrible tragedy, and how can we prevent something like this from occurring in the future?

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