ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando police and their SWAT team are sharing the tactics they used the night of the Pulse terror attack with other agencies.
A tactical and training competition provided the perfect venue to pass along the skills.
Two Orlando police teams trekked through a wooded portion of a course before diving through tunnels and working to beat the times of 60 other international teams from countries.
While it was a competition, so much more comes from what the share with one another.
“It allows us to network and discuss things like best practices, trade techniques and tactics,” said Lt. Carter Gowen, of the Orlando Police Department.
Gowen said it’s the same techniques he and his OPD SWAT team members used the night of the pulse terror attack
“Certainly this is as close as reality as you are going to get, with the amount of stress that somebody goes through,” Gowen said.
The course allows SWAT team members to exhaust themselves and elevate their heart rate by going through obstacles.
Once completed, they have to compose themselves and be able to fire a live round.
“There was over 300 people in the night club that night, and tactics used such as the movement, moving with the flashlight on your firearm, entering the building with the use of the BearCat,” said OPD SWAT training director Lt. Dave Arnott.
SWAT team members used a BearCat to break through the wall of a restroom at Pulse to save victims who were hiding inside and ultimately gain access to the gunman, who was then killed.
“These tactics that are learned here this week did save over 250 lives,” said Arnott.
Orlando police Chief John Mina, who was a SWAT team member for 17 years, also attended the competition to show his support for his officers as they too slowly recover from what they experienced the night of the Pulse attack.