50 dead in Orlando nightclub massacre
By: ABC6 News Staff
@ABC6
Officials are calling Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando an act of terror. It is the worst attack in the U.S. since 9/11. The gunman opened fire during the early morning hours at a gay nightclub, killing at least 50 people. More than 50 others were injured.
"This is an act of terror and an act of hate,” said President Barack Obama. “Attacks on any American – regardless or race or ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation – is an attack on all of us."
"It’s sickening. It should make every American angry," said Florida Governor Rick Scott.
The gunman was killed at the scene. He’s been identified by investigators as Omar Mateen, 29. Law enforcement officials say after the shooting began, Mateen called 911 to pledge his allegiance to Isis.
"There were 9–1–1 calls in which there was conversation between the subject and law enforcement representatives or 911 dispatchers. That has become federal evidence,” said Ronald Harper, the FBI Agent in Charge.
Mateen was known to law enforcement. The FBI interviewed him three times back in 2013 and 2014, but he was not deemed a substantive threat. He is a U.S. citizen who was born to parents from Afghanistan.
Authorities say he drove to Orlando from his home in Fort Pierce, Florida armed with an assault weapon and a handgun.
Federal officials say the gunman bought the weapons used in this attack within the past week– and that they were purchased legally.
© WLNE-TV 2016
