Did the police do the right thing?
The official timeline of the siege includes a lengthy pause of two hours or more between Mateen's initial assault, in which most of the victims were killed, and a final gun battle in which he and others were killed. During that interim period, police said Mateen had stopped shooting and was talking to 911 dispatchers and hostage negotiators, raising a potential opportunity to end the bloodshed. But while they talked, an untold number of victims were lying wounded or dying in the club.
Orlando Police Chief John Mina has defended his approach, saying it was worth the risk to talk to Mateen because it may have saved more lives — and once it became clear the Mateen was going to start killing again, authorities moved to take Mateen out. Many police experts agree, saying it struck a difficult balance between force and negotiation.
But the details of what happened during the siege's middle period remain unclear.
Read more from NBCnews.com [HERE].