Orlando: At least 50 people were killed and more than 50 others were wounded when a gunman opened fire and took hostages at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, early Sunday morning.
The shooter, identified by several law enforcement sources as Omar Mateen, 29, was killed in a shootout with law enforcement after a three-hour siege.
The attack is the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since the 9/11 attacks of 2001. The attack is also the deadliest mass shooting in United States history and the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in US history.
The massacre began when the gunman stormed the Pulse Nightclub about 2 AM ET with an AR-15 type rifle and a handgun, officials said. The carnage ended about 5 AM ET, when 11 Orlando police officers and three Orange County sheriff’s deputies stormed the nightclub and exchanged fire with Mateen, authorities said. City officials said about 300 people were in the club at the time of the shooting.
FBI evidence specialists arrived Sunday night at Mateen’s home in a condominium that had been evacuated shortly after dawn, authorities told NBC News. They took their time in case Mateen's unit might be booby-trapped, but authorities said late Sunday that no devices were found, and residents were allowed back home about midnight.
Seddique Mir Mateen, Mateen’s father, said that “this has nothing to do with religion” in spite of reports that his son had declared his allegiance to ISIS.
A law enforcement official told NBC News there is no indication that Omar Mateen was in touch with terrorists overseas and nothing to indicate this was a directed attack. Also, several officials say, there’s no sign that anyone else was involved in the attack, either in helping Mateen or egging him on.
The father said his son got angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago and thought that might be related to the shooting.
“We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident. We weren’t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock, like the whole country,” Seddique Mir Mateen said.
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