Shooting in Orlando officially the deadliest in US history

A gunman killed 50 people and injured 53 in a massacre at a gay nightclub early on Sunday (June 12), the city’s mayor and police said, in an attack USA authorities are described as a “terrorism incident”.

Police have identified the shooter in the tragic Orlando nightclub shooting on Saturday, June 11, as Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old from Fort Pierce, Florida.

“While many questions have yet to be answered, the pain of this attack in a mainstay of the Orlando LGBT community is surely magnified as our nation celebrates LGBT Pride month”, Pelosi said. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those affected.

A gunman took scores of people hostage overnight inside the nightclub between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.; about 42 people were taken to area hospitals, Mina said. He worked as a security guard, which allowed him to have a firearms license that meant minimal background checks when he bought guns.

Officials have said they’re investigating whether the incident was an act of terrorism. “Once we’re able to do that, once the notification is made, then more details will be able to be shared, most likely from our counterterrorism division up at Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters”, Hopper said.

“This had nothing to do with religion”.

A canine unit reportedly found explosives inside Mateen’s auto. Praying for all the victims and their families. The gunman, 26-year-old Kevin James Loibl, then shot himself.

The father of the man named as the shooter in a massacre at a gay Florida nightclub says he’s in shock and that he wasn’t aware of anything his son might have been planning.

On Facebook, the club urged customers to get out as quickly as they could.

Witnesses have described hearing what sounded like “fireworks”.

Fatriana Evans frequents the Pulse nightclub and was outside when shots were fired.

Smith did not know the conditions of her friends and came out of the hospital and burst into tears.

“Some guy walked in and started shooting everybody. He had an automatic rifle, so nobody stood a chance”, Smith said.

“I am safely home and hoping everyone gets home safely as well”.

“It’s just shocking”, said Christopher Hansen, who was inside Pulse.

“And it’s a reminder that the war on terror has evolved into something we’ve never had to confront before – individuals capable of conducting these sorts of massacres unexpectedly in places that you normally wouldn’t associate with the kinds of attacks that you see”, he said. He is dead, so I can’t ask him.

Orlando has a population of more than 270,000 and is the home of the Disney World amusement park and many other tourist attractions that drew 62 million visitors in 2014.

Orlando is a popular tourist destination with British families, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have since issued advice to United Kingdom nationals who may be in the city, to “avoid the area if possible and follow the advice of local authorities”.

Chancellor George Osborne said: “Appalled by the unspeakable events in Orlando”.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of the victims”, the president’s press secretary said in a statement. He continued to hear shooting even after he emerged, where police were telling people to back away from the club. “We are confident that there are no threats to the immediate area”, he added. He heard gunshots, “just one after another after another”.

Torres said he ducked into the Dunkin’ Donuts and called 911 as several people dashed out of the club, bleeding. When will this stop? We will need to help each other’s get through this. He tweeted about an hour later: “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don’t want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance”. We must be smart!

Rep. Alan Grayson, speaking to reporters Sunday, said he believed the shooting was a “hate crime”, although the Federal Bureau of Investigation stopped short of saying that.