Orlando

Orlando to Begin Distributing Money to Pulse Shooting Victims, Families By End of September

A fund for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando has more than $26 million in donations.

Orlando officials said Monday that money from the OneOrlando Fund will start being distributed by the end of the month to the victims of the massacre at the gay nightclub.

Officials say 351 claim forms have been submitted. They say some of them are competing submissions for dead victims.

During a meeting with survivors and families last month, Ken Feinberg, the head administrator of the fund, had warned that squabbling over estate questions could be the biggest obstacle to the distribution of the money.

Gunman Omar Mateen opened fire at the Pulse nightclub June 12 in a rampage that left 49 victims dead and 53 wounded, making it the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is asking the FBI to share more information with local agencies offering assistance to victims of the Pulse gay nightclub shooting.

Rubio's office on Tuesday released a letter sent to FBI Director James Comey last month asking for reforms. The letter says some victims had their assistance delayed because the FBI didn't share information with the city of Orlando.

Rubio says many victims of the shooting or their families filled out forms they believed would start the process of getting help for paying rent, funeral arrangements and other assistance.

The forms had logos of both the FBI and city.

But Rubio says the FBI informed the city the agency wouldn't share the intake forms since they were part of the investigation into the shooting.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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