Orlando Nightclub Shooting: Mass Casualties After Gunman Opens Fire in Gay Club
At least 50 people are dead and more than 50
others wounded after a gunman opened fire and took hostages at a gay
club in Orlando, Florida, early Sunday morning.
The shooter was identified by several law enforcement sources as Omar Mateen, 29.
The massacre — which is now the worst mass shooting in the history of the United States — began when the gunman stormed the Pulse Nightclub about 2 a.m., with an AR-15 type rifle and a handgun, officials said.
He was shot dead about three hours later when a SWAT team
entered the club, police said.
The incident is being investigated as an act of terrorism. Mir Seddique, Mateen's father, told NBC News,
"this has nothing to do with religion." Seddique said his son got angry
when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago and thinks
that may be related to the shooting.
The law enforcement sources told NBC News that
Mateen was born in New York in 1986 and was listed as living at a
residence in Port St. Lucie, about 125 miles south of Orlando.
Mateen had active security officer and firearm
licenses, according to Florida records, and his family said he worked in
security.
The FBI first looked into Mateen in 2013 because
of a statement he had made about radical Islamic propaganda, said FBI
Special Agent In Charge Ron Hopper. He was interviewed twice, but the
investigation was closed after the FBI wasn't able to confirm that he
had ties to radical Islam.
He was then interviewed again by the FBI in 2014
when they learned he might have a connection to an American suicide
bomber, but the investigation was closed because the FBI determined that
"contact was minimal and did not constitute a substantive
relationship," Hopper said.
Law enforcement officials told NBC News that
Mateen swore allegiance to the leader of ISIS on a 911 phone call
shortly before the shooting in which he mentioned Boston Marathon
bombers, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
Mateen legally bought the two guns he used in
the shooting in the past week, according to a Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives official.
Marriage records show he was married in Port St. Lucie in 2009, and his family said he had a 3-year-old son.
"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 said.
Meanwhile, a man who answered the phone at
Mateen's address, Mustafa Abasin, told NBC News: "We are in shock and we
are sad." He would not say how he knew Mateen, but said he was helping
investigators.
Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., whose district
includes the area of the massacre, said the attack was "more likely than
not ideologically motivated."
"It's no coincidence that the attack took place
where it did and when it did," he said. "It might be that we've seen the
commission of an awful hate crime."
Grayson said investigators were searching
Mateen's home and combing the nightclub. Processing the gruesome scene
would "take hours," Grayson said. "There is blood everywhere."
Police said Mateen was a U.S. citizen, but some
of his family members are not. They would not say where those family
members were from, and while they have not confirmed that Mateen was
Muslim, several Muslim groups rebuked the attack.
"We condemn this monstrous attack and offer our
heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of all those killed
or injured. The Muslim community joins our fellow Americans in
repudiating anyone or any group that would claim to justify or excuse
such an appalling act of violence," the Council on American-Islamic
Relations Orlando Regional Coordinator Rasha Mubarak said in a
statement.
President Barack Obama said Sunday afternoon
that the "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, or in a house of worship, or a movie theater, or in a
nightclub."
"And we have to decide if that's the kind of
country we want to be," Obama said. "And to actively do nothing is a
decision as well."
"This is an especially heartbreaking say for our
friends fellow Americans who are lesbian gay bisexual or transgender,"
Obama said, calling the massacre "an act of terror and an act of hate."
Obama said the FBI was leading the investigation into the attack.
Police originally said around 20 people were
dead, but Orlando Police Chief John Mina said once authorities were able
to get into the club, many more victims were discovered. Mina called
the attack "one of the worst tragedies we've seen."
PHOTOS: Orlando Nightclub Massacre
Mina said a uniformed officer working extra duty
exchanged gunfire with the shooter, who officials say was armed with at
least two firearms.
"The officer engaged in a gun battle with that
suspect. The suspect at some point went back inside the club and more
shots were fired. This did turn into a hostage situation," Mina said.
Officials made the decision "to go in on a
rescue" just after 5 a.m. Mina said, adding that an officer was injured
after being shot in the head.
"It appears his helmet saved his life," he said.
"So he has an injury to his eye, but it looks like the bullet did hit
his helmet."
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said the incident "could definitely be classified as domestic terrorism."
However, Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Special Agent in Charge Danny Banks said authorities were also
investigating whether international terror was involved, and if the
shooter was a lone wolf.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott was also on his way to
Orlando Sunday morning, and issued a state of emergency in the city.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, families and all those
affected by this horrific tragedy. We are a strong and resilient state
and we will devote every resource available to assist with the shooting
in Orlando," Scott said in a statement.
President Barack Obama was briefed on the
shooting by Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and
Counterterrorism and requested regular updates, according to a statement
from the White House.
Police had previously reported on Twitter that
there was a "controlled explosion" at the scene of the shooting. Mina
later clarified that the noise was caused by a device intended to
distract the shooter.
Revelers described scenes of horror inside the club. One witness told MSNBC that they had to crawl over bodies to escape.
A post to the club's Facebook page at around 2
a.m. warned "everyone get out of Pulse and keep running." Witness video
from outside showed dozens of first responders at the scene, and several
victims on the ground.
"It was tragic," club-goer Christopher Hansen
said. "I wasn't sure if it was the music, because ... it went with the
beat almost until you heard just too many shots."
"It was just like — bang, bang, bang, bang,
bang, bang — and that's when you just know chaos is just, it was in
turmoil," he added.
Mina Justice was outside the club trying to
contact her 30-year-old son Eddie, who texted her when the shooting
happened and asked her to call police. He told her he ran into a
bathroom with other club patrons to hide. He then texted her: "He's
coming."
"The next text said: 'He has us, and he's in here with us,'" she told The Associated Press. "That was the last conversation."
"They are just pulling people out in stretchers loading them up," he said, referring to first responders. "Omg please god let everyone make it."
"People are screaming that people are dead," Torres wrote in another post.
The shooting at the nightclub comes during a series of national celebrations that mark LGBT pride month.
"As soon as we have any information we will update everyone," the club later posted to Facebook. "Please keep everyone in your prayers as we work through this tragic event. Thank you for your thoughts and love."
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
Getty Images
Following the mass shooting at an Orlando gay bar early
Sunday morning, which left at least 50 dead and more than 50 wounded,
OneBlood, an Orlando blood center, posted an urgent request for O-, O+
and AB plasma donors.
The community has responded, with people lining up around the block to donate.
While there have been reports that OneBlood lifted the restrictions on gay and bisexual men donating blood, the organization refuted the claim, tweeting: "FDA guidelines remain in effect for blood donation. There are false reports circulating that FDA rules were being lifted. Not true."
The FDA recommends men who have had sex with another man during the past 12 months refrain from donating blood.
U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., who is openly gay, criticized the policy on Twitter.
Follow NBC OUT on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The community has responded, with people lining up around the block to donate.
While there have been reports that OneBlood lifted the restrictions on gay and bisexual men donating blood, the organization refuted the claim, tweeting: "FDA guidelines remain in effect for blood donation. There are false reports circulating that FDA rules were being lifted. Not true."
The FDA recommends men who have had sex with another man during the past 12 months refrain from donating blood.
U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., who is openly gay, criticized the policy on Twitter.
Follow NBC OUT on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Orlando Nightclub Shooter Called 911 to Pledge Allegiance to ISIS: Sources
The gunman who opened fire at a gay nightclub in
Florida early Sunday, shooting over 100 people, had called 911 moments
before to pledge allegiance to the leader of ISIS, law enforcement
sources told NBC News.
Shooter Omar Mateen, 29, appeared to be a
follower of ISIS propaganda and referenced the Tsarnaev brothers, who
carried out the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, at the scene, sources
said.
But as investigators try to determine the
radicalization that apparently motivated Mateen to attack the Pulse
Nightclub in Orlando, his family believes he was pushed over the edge by
pure hate against the LGBT community.
Various law enforcement officials have
identified the shooter as Mateen, who was born in New York and lived in
Port St. Lucie on Florida's eastern shores.
The attack, which claimed at least 50 lives, is
considered the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. While
authorities are still investigating what set off the gunman, the
shooting is being considered an act of terrorism.
President Barack Obama in an address to the nation Sunday afternoon called it an "act of terror and an act of hate."
Mateen, who was carrying a handgun and
AR-15-type rifle, died after a SWAT team stormed the club, police said.
The shooter, who worked in security, according to the family, had active
security officer and firearms licenses, records show.
Records also show he had filed a petition for a name change in 2006 from Omar Mir Seddique to Omar Mir Seddique Mateen.
Because of his name and heritage, there were
immediate questions about Mateen's possible ties to Islamic
fundamentalism — but his father said it may have been a recent incident
involving two men showing each other affection that set the gunman off.
"We were in Downtown Miami, Bayside, people were
playing music. And he saw two men kissing each other in front of his
wife and kid and he got very angry," Mir Seddique, told NBC News on
Sunday. "They were kissing each other and touching each other and he
said, 'Look at that. In front of my son they are doing that.' And then
we were in the men's bathroom and men were kissing each other."
Seddique added, "This had nothing to do with religion."
Driving the point home that religion was a consideration in the mind of investigators, at a 10:30 a.m. news conference Saturday, officials brought a member of the Muslim community to speak.
Police did not explicitly say Mateen was Muslim, but Islamic groups put out statements against the carnage.
"We condemn this monstrous attack and offer our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of all those killed or injured. The Muslim community joins our fellow Americans in repudiating anyone or any group that would claim to justify or excuse such an appalling act of violence," the Council on American-Islamic Relations Orlando Regional Coordinator Rasha Mubarak said in a statement.
Seddique said Mateen was a husband and father to a 3-year-old son. The family's home in Port St. Lucie is less than two hours south of Orlando.
He worked in security and had attended Indian River State College, where he got an associate's degree in criminal justice, his father added.
Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., whose district includes the area of the massacre, suggested to reporters that "more likely than not" the shooting spree at the nightclub was ideologically motivated.
"Let me put it this way," he said, "the nationality of family members is indicative."
The family's background was not immediately clear, but Grayson said Mateen was a U.S. citizen.
Hakuna maoni