Worst mass shooting in U.S. history as gunman opens fire in gay club

The massacre at an Orlando nightclub that claimed 50 lives is the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

It was an an act of domestic terrorism that ranks as the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

At least 50 people were killed and 53 others wounded after a gunman opened fire in a popular Orlando, Fla., nightclub early Sunday morning.

The gunman was identified as Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old chap.

He is a U.S. citizen born in 1986 to Afghan parents who lived in Port St. Lucie, about 130 miles south of Orlando. 

Mateen had active security officer and firearm licenses, according to Florida records, and his family said he worked in security. 

Marriage records show he was married in Port St. Lucie in 2009, and a relative said he had a 3-year-old son.

The gunman died at the scene in a shootout with police.

He was shot dead about three hours later when a SWAT team entered the club, police said. 

A handgun and AR-15-type rifle were recovered at the scene, according to police.

“We had a crime that will have a lasting effect on our community,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer at a press conference. 

“We need to stand strong. We need to be supportive of the victims and their families.”

Mir Seddique, Mateen’s father said, “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.

“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.

Mateen was said to have been known to law enforcement officials, but the FBI closed its 2013 and 2014  investigations into his activities when it did not find anything that warranted further investigation.

Three previous high-scale shootings  are:

1. 32 dead in 2007 when a gunman went on a rampage at Virginia Tech college.

2. mass shooting in San Bernadino, Calif. last December left 14 dead and 22 wounded

3. the 2013 killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. left 27 people dead and one injured.

In November, a coordinated series of attacks in Paris, including slayings at the packed Bataclan nightclub during a performance by Eagles of Death Metal, left 130 people dead, jolting the world as a brazen act of terror.

The shooting in Orlando began at roughly 2 a.m. ET on Sunday at Pulse, a gay bar, before escalating into a hostage situation that lasted until around 5 a.m. when police entered the club.

Police shot and killed the gunman, who used an assault weapon, a handgun, and an unidentified device.  

As the shooting began, Pulse posted on its Facebook page, “Everyone get out of pulse and keep running.”

One Orlando police officer was shot during the exchange of gunfire but was likely saved from death by his helmet, officials said. 

Police said they were looking into reports that the gunman may have had radical Islamist beliefs.

“We do have suggestions that that individual may have leanings toward that particular ideology,” FBI Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Ron Hopper told media outlets. 

“But right now we can’t say definitively, so we’re still running everything to ground.”

Authorities said that the shooting is not connected to the murder of  Christina Grimmie, a former contestant on “The Voice,” who was shot Friday night after performing a concert in Orlando. 

It is an active, ongoing investigation, but officials say that this appears to be an isolated incident.

The scene outside the three local hospitals where the Pulse shooting victims were taken was frenzied.

People crowded around looking for family and friends believed to have been in the nightclub on Saturday night.

An eye witness interviewed by CBS News said that the club had themed nights and Saturday was “Latino” night.

Police urged anyone who was at the club on Saturday or those with information about the shooting to come forward and assist the investigation.

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 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.”

Mina said a uniformed officer working extra duty exchanged gunfire with the shooter, who was armed with an assault-type rifle, a handgun and some type of suspicious device.

“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.”

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