Pinellas Reaches Out To Orlando With Blood Drives

Pinellas County, FL — Pinellas County wants to send its condolences and support to the people of Orlando following Sunday’s mass shooting that left 50 people dead, including the shooter, and another 53 injured.

To that end, the county has announced two upcoming blood drives to help the victims of what has been classified as the worst mass shooting in American history.

“Florida is one community and an attack on one city is an attack on each of us,” the county said in an email to media Monday.

The blood drives, being staged in partnership with OneBlood, are set to take place at the following locations:

• On Tuesday, June 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the county courthouse, 315 Court St. in Clearwater
• On Friday, June 17 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Pinellas County Utilities building, 14 S. Fort Harrison Ave. in Clearwater

County employees plan to give blood during the drives, but area residents are also encouraged to donate, as well.

"Pinellas joins with our friends throughout Florida in standing with the people of Orlando," said Charlie Justice, chairman of the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners. "We stand resolute on principles of equality, freedom, justice and love. We will not retreat. We will keep moving forward. Today, we can all join together in a blood donation in honor of those who cannot."

Omar Mateen, 29, was the lone shooter in Sunday’s massacre that began to unfold around 2 a.m. at the Pulse Orlando Night Club & Ultra Lounge. Police say Mateen placed a 911 call Sunday morning pledging his allegiance to the Islamic State. 

State and local officials are calling the shooting an act of terrorism.

“This is clearly an act of terrorism,” Gov. Rick Scott said during a Sunday afternoon press conference. “It’s sickening (and) it should make every American angry.”

See Also:

• Latest: Officials Begin Identifying 50 People Killed In Orlando Mass Shooting
• Rumors Of Multiple Shooters In Orlando Massacre Untrue: Cops
• Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen: What We Know

President Barack Obama also classified Omar Mateen's actions as terrorism and issued a fresh call for action on new gun control measures.

"This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, in a house of worship, or in a movie theater or in a nightclub," Obama said. "And we have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be. To actively do nothing is a decision as well."

Sunday's death toll far surpassed an attack at Virginia Tech in 2007, where 33 were killed, as well as high-profile attacks at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2013, where 28 died, and a mass shooting that killed 14 in San Bernardino, Calif., last December.

For more information about making a blood donation, visit OneBlood online.

Image via Shutterstock