Survivors and family members of the 49 victims killed in the Pulse nightclub massacre nine years ago are getting their first chance Wednesday to walk through the long-shuttered, LGBTQ+-friendly Florida venue before it's razed and replaced with a permanent memorial to what was once the worst U.S. mass shooting in modern times. In small groups over four days, survivors and family members of those killed planned to spend a half hour inside the space where Omar Mateen opened fire during a Latin night celebration on June 12, 2016, leaving 49 dead and 53 wounded. Mateen, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, was killed after a three-hour standoff with police. At the time, it was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The Pulse shooting’s death toll was surpassed the following year when 58 people were killed and more than 850 injured among a crowd of 22,000 at a country music festival in Las Vegas. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/pulse-massacre-survivors-are-set-to-revisit-nightclub-before-its-razed-florida-orlando/77-5c883343-bf51-4664-8fe8-04abaaee4f92