The Department of Justice awarded Florida $8.4 million to help victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando last June, state Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Monday.
The massacre was the worst mass shooting in modern American history, leaving 49 dead and 53 wounded.
Hundreds more were physically unharmed but left grappling with what they — or their relatives and friends — endured that night, the attorney general's office said in grant documents.
Officials expected all 353 surviving victims who were at Pulse on June 12 to seek trauma-related services, the documents say. Nearly 700 more — including first responders, nightclub staff and family members of those killed and injured — could also seek stress and grief-related help.
Because the shooter, Omar Mateen, targeted a gay club on a Latin-themed night, the office requested nearly $1 million for a clinic with Spanish-speaking staff who specialize in working with LGBT people, the documents say.
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Officials also asked for $3.8 million for a victim assistance center run by the Heart of Florida United Way that was set up in the aftermath of the attack.
The remaining funds were to be divided between Orange County, where the attack occurred, neighboring Osceoloa County and the attorney general’s office.
