Recordings of 911 calls from the Pulse shooting released Tuesday show callers' frustration and frantic pleas for help as dispatchers calmly took down identifying information.

  • Orange County Sheriff's Office releases Pulse 911 calls
  • Patrons, loved ones outside club inundated dispatchers
  • Orlando Police has not released 911 calls yet

The Orange County Sheriff's Office released the calls from the nightclub attack in June that left 49 people dead and more than 50 hospitalized at the hands of gunman Omar Mateen, who was killed after an hours-long standoff.

In the 911 calls, panicked club patrons and the loved ones they contacted are heard talking with Sheriff's dispatchers.

"People are shot and dead ... Are you guys sending anybody there?" a man says after calling a second time. His ex-girlfriend was inside a bathroom in the club, holed up with more than a dozen others, including two dead people. "They are all scared to death, and they all think they are going to die," the man tells the dispatcher.

In another call from someone outside the club, a person who lives near the club on South Orange Avenue south of downtown Orlando tells a dispatcher that people were banging on his door. Some pleaded for shelter, while others were hiding behind his car, he says.

Overall, the Sheriff's dispatchers remained calm as they took down identifying information and urged callers to stay put until rescuers could arrive.

"What I need him to do is just stay where he is and don't have him do anything or go anywhere until deputies or officers clear the area," a dispatcher told a mom who was texting with her son, who was in a club bathroom. "Tell him to stay tight and just follow the officers and deputies' directions."

The Sheriff's dispatchers took overflow calls after the Orlando Police Department's dispatchers were flooded. Orlando Police has not released its 911 calls amid a public-records lawsuit involving a dozen local and national media companies (Bright House is not among them).

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.