Police shut down investigation into owners of Pulse nightclub following 2016 shooting

Orlando Police have closed their investigation into the owners of queer nightclub Pulse after a 2016 shooting at the venue which killed 49 and injured 68.

Associated Press reported that a probe into Barbara and Rosario Poma, the club’s owners, has now been wrapped up after Orlando Police Department found “no probable cause for involuntary manslaughter by culpable negligence”.

The incident happened on June 12, 2016, when a shooter walked into the venue where a predicted 300 people were in attendance and opened fire. Until 2017, it was regarded as the deadliest mass shooting to have taken place in the US.

Last year, families of both victims and survivors filed complaints to Orlando Police asking for a probe into the club’s owners over a violation of building code.

Those who complained claimed that first responders to the scene struggled to access the venue where clubbers were held hostage for three hours, and “unpermitted renovations” had made it inaccessible, The Guardian reports.

In a statement sent to Associated Press, police confirmed that no probable cause for involuntary manslaughter by culpable negligence existed, and the investigation into Pulse’s owners has now been closed.

According to the statement, there was no “reckless disregard for human life” with regard to the owner’s actions, and they “could not have foreseen or anticipated a terrorist incident” of its nature taking place at the venue.

In 2023, seven years after the homophobic mass shooting took place, the site of Pulse was purchased by the City of Orlando with the intention of making it a memorial for the victims.

Orlando city commissioners made a unanimous vote to purchase the property for $2 million. The venue had been subject to a bid from the city years earlier, although Barbara Poma declined to sell.

Barbara decided to fundraise for her own charity fund, onePULSE Foundation, a non-profit organisation established in the aftermath of the shooting with an aim to “create a sanctuary of hope and honour and preserve the legacy of the 49 people killed, 68 injured and countless others who were affected."

[Via Associated Press]

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter.