The Orlando Police Department has closed its investigation into the former owners of Pulse nightclub, the site of the 2016 mass shooting targeting the LGBTQIA+ community that killed 49 people.
No charges will be filed against owners Barbara and Rosario Poma after the victims’ families and survivors asked police to investigate possible criminal culpability related to the shooting, the Associated Press reports, because probable cause didn’t exist for involuntary manslaughter by culpable negligence, according to Orlando police.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, statements from more than 20 survivors and family members alleged that the nightclub’s building plans were not available to first responders for the first three hours hostages were held inside, that the club was likely above capacity, and that it had violated its conditional use permit for years, among other security and risk management blunders.
The AP reports that investigators concluded that the missing building plans did not inhibit rescuers, that it was impossible to determine official club capacity on the night of the shooting, that the city of Orlando never took action against Pulse for its violations and structural changes, and that there were “too many unknowns” about how the gunman entered the club.
The Pomas did not act “with a reckless disregard for human life,” and “they could not have reasonably foreseen or anticipated a terrorist incident taking place at Pulse,” investigators wrote in their report. A spokesperson for the Pomas told the AP that they will not be issuing a statement.
The report has been met with frustration from survivors and victims’ families: “It’s really very simple. There should be some accountability and a legitimate investigation. Not this joke report,” reads a post in the Facebook group Pulse Families and Survivors for Justice.
Prior to the Pomas’ selling of the club to the city of Orlando for $2 million last year, Barbara Poma was the executive director for the onePulse Foundation, the non-profit that spearheaded the construction of a permanent memorial and museum to honor the victims of the shooting. She stepped down in 2022 amid criticism for her desire to sell the property instead of donating it.
Read the full Associated Press report here.
Featured image credit: Walter / Creative Commons License BY-SA 2.0.
