50 killed in LGBT night club shooting

ORLANDO>> A gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun opened fire inside a crowded gay nightclub early Sunday, killing at least 50 people before dying in a gunfight with SWAT officers, police said. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Authorities were investigating the attack on the Florida dance club as an act of terrorism. The gunman’s father recalled that his son recently got angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami and said that might be related to the assault.

The shooter called 911 shortly before the attack and referenced ISIS, FBI agent Ronald Hopper said.

At least 53 people were hospitalized, most in critical condition, officials said. A surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center said the death toll was likely to climb.

“There’s blood everywhere,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said.

All of the dead were killed with the assault rifle, according to Rep. Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene when the gunfire began shortly before the club known as Pulse was to close.

“Some guy walked in and started shooting everybody. He had an automatic rifle, so nobody stood a chance,” said Jackie Smith, who had two friends next to her get shot. “I just tried to get out of there.”

The suspect was identified as Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old American citizen from Port St. Lucie, Florida, who had worked as a security guard. Mateen’s ex-wife said his family was from Afghanistan but that her ex-husband was born in New York. His family later moved to Florida.

The shooter in 2013 made inflammatory comments to co-workers, and Mateen was interviewed twice, Hopper said. He called those interviews inconclusive.

In 2014, Hopper said, officials found that Mateen had ties to an American suicide bomber. He described the contact as minimal, saying it did not constitute a threat at the time.

Mateen purchased at least two firearms legally within the last week or so, according to Trevor Velinor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The suspect exchanged gunfire with 14 police officers at the club, which had more than 300 people inside.

At one point, he took hostages, Police Chief John Mina said. Around 5 a.m., authorities sent in a SWAT team to rescue the hostages.

Pulse posted on its own Facebook page around 2 a.m.: “Everyone get out of Pulse and keep running.” Just before 6 a.m., the club posted an update: “As soon as we have any information, we will update everyone. Please keep everyone in your prayers as we work through this tragic event. Thank you for your thoughts and love.”

In addition to the assault rifle, the shooter also had some sort of “suspicious device,” the police chief said.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, police departments across the country stepped up patrols in neighborhoods frequented by the LGBT community.

Authorities were looking into whether the attack was an act of domestic or international terrorism, and if the shooter acted alone, according to Danny Banks, an agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

“This is an incident, as I see it, that we certainly classify as domestic terror incident,” Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.

The previous deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. was the 2007 attack at Virginia Tech, where a student killed 32 people before killing himself.

LOREN ELLIOTT — TAMPA BAY TIMES VIA AP People pass a sign is taped up at an intersection a few blocks from a crime scene at the nightclub where a mass shooting took place the night before in Orlando Sunday.