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ASSOCIATED PRESS
A makeshift memorial continues to grow outside the Pulse nightclub, the day before the one month anniversary of a mass shooting on Monday in Orlando, Fla.
ORLANDO, Fla. » The Pulse nightclub was broken into early today, a day after law enforcement released the scene to the owners, according to Orlando police.
Owner Rosario Poma called the break in “pathetic” and said he would press charges against those responsible.
“It’s pathetic that people would do such things,” he said as he was putting a chain-link lock on the fence that still remains around the building. “I don’t know what they were doing.”
According to an Orlando Police report, Poma and his wife, Barbara Poma, were at the club this morning when they noticed a patio door covered by plywood was unlocked.
Police found pry marks where the intruder pulled the plywood away.
Rosario Poma said it doesn’t appear there was anything missing or damaged during the break-in.
The Pomas locked up the building around 2 p.m. Wednesday. It was still secured when they drove past it around 9 p.m.
Poma said some employees drove by around 3 a.m. and noticed a vehicle gate was open. They closed it and left for the night.
Mourners have been visiting to the site at all hours of the day to pay their respects to the 49 people who were killed at the nightclub on June 12.
Up until Wednesday, Orlando police or other law enforcement agencies were guarding the scene around the clock, as it the building was part of an active investigation.
But after the transfer, Orlando police said the club would have to pay for its own security going forward.
Poma said he would have security for the building, but did not know if he would hire off-duty Orlando police officers. While the property did have an alarm system, it was not activated.
There have been no reports of any arrests made.
Amy Welton was visiting the area for the first time today. She said she knew victim Antonio Davon Brown, who died in the shooting.
Welton said Brown, a human resources manager at Lowe’s in Fern Park, helped her get acclimated to the area when she moved to Orlando from Alabama.
She called the break-in “disrespectful.”
“I can’t comprehend why someone would want to break in,” she said.
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©2016 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.)
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