Live Updates — Terror in Orlando: Approximately 50+ dead, 50+ More Wounded at Gay Nightclub
Shooting, ‘Mass Casualty Situation’ At Orlando Gay Nightclub
CNN The shooter is not from the Orlando area, Mina said. He has been identified as Omar Saddiqui Mateen, 29, of Fort Pierce, about 120 miles southeast of Orlando
( It appears gunman was on a watch and no fly list and had made pro jihadi comments previously, that is all they are saying right now. Big concerns it may be a precursor to a series of attacks from a cell. He was apparently making ISIS statements inside the club… – JW )
UPDATE: ISIS Announced Florida Threat THREE Days Ago: “We Will Attack Florida”
AND
http://www.barenakedislam.com/
12 Jun 2016
Source: Shooting, ‘Mass Casualty Situation’ At Orlando Gay Nightclub – Breitbart
Associated Press
Orlando Police responded to reports of shots fired early Sunday morning and now report a gunman is dead inside the club and they are dealing with a “mass casualty situation”, with “multiple” dead.
Speaking at a press conference following the attack on the Orlando Pulse gay nightclub, Orlando Police Chief John Mina said there were “multiple” dead and 42 injured. There have been reports, including from the Chicago Tribune of “up to 20 dead”.
The police chief said the focus presently was on checking the club and surrounding area for possible explosive devices following a “controlled explosion” at the scene. Chief Mina said the deceased gunman had a device on his person, but gave no indication of what that device was. Mina said the gunman was armed with a handgun and a long gun and took hostages after a gun fight with an officer who was working the club.
Fox News reports that the owner of Pulse used to Facebook to urge people to stay away from the club sometime after 2 a.m. The post said, “Everyone get out of pulse and keep running.”
At 5:48 a.m EASTERN Orlando Police tweeted: “We can confirm this is a mass casualty situation.” At 5:53 a.m. the Orlando Police confirmed “the shooter inside the club is dead.”
There were various reports of an explosion once police responded, but there were quelled when Orlando Police tweeted that it was a “controlled explosion” at the scene. No details were given regarding the object or package that was detonated.
No reports on the identification of attacker, or motive for attack has been given at this point.
Live Updates — Terror in Orlando: Approximately 50 dead, 50+ Wounded at Gay Nightclub
- Shots rang out early Sunday morning at a gay bar in Orlando, Florida
- Early reports suggest that this approximately 50 people are dead and 50+ more are injured
- If these numbers are confirmed, it is the highest body count from a terror attack on American soil since 9/11/01.
- The FBI has suggested that the attacker could have ‘leanings to radical Islamic terrorism’
- Suspect ID’d: Omar Mateen, a U.S. citizen born to Afghan parents
- This is the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States
- STATE OF EMERGENCY
- President Obama condemns ‘terror’ and ‘hate,’ does not mention Islam
- FBI interviewed Mateen in 2013 and 2014 but was not surveilling him currently
Update 3:39 pm ET:
Shot.
Chaser.
Update 3:28 pm ET:
Stop what you are doing. Bill Kristol has presented the hottest of takes:
Update 3:23 pm ET:
Gay Republican org calls out President Obama. Reporting by Patrick Howley:
It’s no secret that abroad men who are gay — and merely suspected of being gay — are targeted for execution; today, that threat has reached the United States. Log Cabin Republicans extends our deepest sympathy, condolences, and sorrow to the victims and families of those targeted in this morning’s violence. If the shooter’s suspected motivations are indeed confirmed, we call upon President Obama and the presumptive nominees of both parties to condemn the attacker and acknowledge in no uncertain terms the cause of this massacre: Radical Islamic terrorism.
Update 3:20 pm ET: ATF spokesman said Mateen bought two weapons in recent days/weeks, a handgun and a long gun.
Update 3:19 pm ET:
Update 3:07 pm ET:
No mention of Islam in statement from Hillary Clinton campaign.
https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/742070089076383744/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Update 3:00 pm ET:
Update 2:56 pm ET
: G4S, the private security company at which Mateen worked, issued the following statement: “We are shocked and saddened by the tragic event that occurred at the Orlando nightclub. We can confirm that Omar Mateen had been employed with G4S since September 10, 2007. We are cooperating fully with all law enforcement authorities, including the FBI, as they conduct their investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the friends, families and people affected by this unspeakable tragedy.”
Update 2:54 pm ET:
New York Times reporter sheds light on Mateen’s pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State: instructions from spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani.
Update 2:46 pm ET:
Via Warner Todd Huston: Mateen worked for the security firm G4S since 2007.
Update 2:32 pm ET: The Islamic State has claimed credit for Mateen’s massacre.
Source to #AmaqAgency: The attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in #Orlando, #Florida and that left more than 100 dead and wounded was carried out by an Islamic State fighter.
Update 2:22 pm ET: From Katie McHugh.
Elizabeth, a woman who was in the night club and spoke with Breitbart News but asked that her identity not be revealed, left Pulse at 1:45 am Sunday night, just as gunshots rang out.
“I don’t really have family, I just have friends, and I don’t know what friends are living or dead, and it’s so terrible,” she said.
“I left my home around 10:50 [PM] so I could get in the club no charge,” she said, adding that she goes every week and has been going to Pulse for three years. “And yesterday as I was coming in, I saw the vibe was good,” she said, and the club was packed. “Everybody was drinking and having a good time.”
“Every time I go there all I see is happy people enjoying their time and loving each other, and just being them,” she said. “And at the end of the night as I was walking out at 1:45, I was getting in the car and we heard gunshots. And we just left, because it was scary!”
“So we just drove out and rolled out, and within two or three minutes there were cops coming everywhere. I didn’t know if it was an accident, or the gunshots I heard… So I just went home and went to sleep, and now I see all the news, and the Facebook, and all of my friends,” she said, adding that she was getting frantic calls asking if she was safe.
She getting into her parked car on the other side of the club when she heard the gunshots. “I couldn’t see where they were coming from, but they were real loud, like BAM BAM BAM… And we speeded out. Thank God we were on the other side of that.”
Update 2:05 pm ET: Obama does not take questions from the press.
Update 2:03 pm ET: Obama references gun control and says killer used a “powerful assault rifle.” Says America must choose whether it wants to change whether people can “easily” purchase weapons. “To actively do nothing is a decision, as well.”
Update 2:01 pm ET: Obama says this is even more heartbreaking in light of the killer’s targeting of LGBT victims. Says that it is an attack on all Americans.
Update 1:59 pm ET: Obama speaking now. Says the attack was clearly “an act of terror and an act of hate.” No mention of Islam yet. We have reached no definitive judgments on the motivation of the killer, he states.
Update 1:56 pm ET:
NBC News: Orlando gunman referenced the Tsarnaev brothers, the Boston bombers, during his rampage, law enforcement source tells
Update 1:53 pm ET: Horrific.
Update 1:45 pm ET: More details on weapons found in California suspect’s car:
Source: this just went out to top LA law enforcement officials. Suspect w/ assault weapons, camo arrested in WeHo. https://t.co/9pfBt72spK—
Robert Faturechi (@RobertFaturechi) June 12, 2016
Update 1:42 pm ET: L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti says the city believes the arrest last night is “completely unrelated” to the Orlando massacre.
Update 1:38 pm ET: A man has been arrested heading to the Los Angeles Pride Festival with an arsenal of weapons, according to breaking news reports.
Early Sunday, Santa Monica police received a call of a suspected prowler near Olympic Boulevard and 11th Street. Patrol officers responded and encountered an individual who told officers he was waiting for a friend. That led officers to inspect the car and find several weapons and a lot of ammunition as well as tannerite, an ingredient that could be used to create a pipe bomb.
Update 1:35 pm ET: Mateen’s father is on video praising the Taliban.
Orlando shooting suspect’s father hosted a political TV show and even tried to run for the Afghan presidency http://wapo.st/1rk2yu8
Update 12:42 pm ET — The Washington Post reports:
Ex-wife of suspected Orlando shooter: ‘He beat me’
The ex-wife of the 29-year-old man suspected of killing 50 people in a Orlando nightclub early Sunday said that he was violent and mentally unstable and beat her repeatedly while they were married.
The ex-wife said she met Omar Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida and marry him.
At first, the marriage was normal, she said, but then he became abusive.
“He was not a stable person,” said the ex-wife, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she feared for her safety in the wake of the mass shooting. “He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.”
Update 12:27 pm ET — The Daily Beast reports:
Omar Mateen, Terrorist Who Attacked Orlando Gay Club, Had Been Investigated by FBI
Mateen was a ‘known quantity’ to federal law enforcement before he killed 53 people in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
Omar Mateen of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, came to the attention of federal authorities twice prior to being identified as the gunman in the Orlando nightclub mass shooting, a senior law enforcement source told The Daily Beast.
[…]
The senior law enforcement source reports that Mateen became a person of interest in 2013 and again in 2014. The Federal Bureau of Investigation at one point opened an investigation into Mateen but subsequently closed the case when it produced nothing that appeared to warrant further investigation.
Update 12:21 pm ET — From Breitbart News’s Michelle Moons:
Fox News’ Bret Baier reported that Florida Senator Bill Nelson told the media that he has talked to intelligence staff who say that “it is believed that there is some connection here to ISIS.”
Baier went on to say, “He says it’s not completely confirmed, it’s not from the FBI, but that intelligence staff believes there is some connection to ISIS.”
Update 12:21 pm ET — From Breitbart News’s Charlie Spiering:
President Barack Obama will deliver a statement at the White House 1:30 p.m. in reaction to the Orlando shooting. The president has been briefed by counter-terrorism officials
Update 12:16 am ET:
@RepAdamSchiff, top Democrat on House Intel Committee, says Orlando gunman Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS http://read.bi/1PmKaa7
Update 11:40 am ET: NBC News interviews suspect’s father:
NBC News spoke with the suspect’s father: ‘We’re apologizing for the whole incident… This had nothing to do with religion,” he said. He went on to say that “his son got very angry when he saw two men kissing in downtown Miami.”
The NBC News report also notes that approximately 320 people were in club when the shooting began.
Update 11:33 am ET:
Florida Gov has declared a state of emergency. City of Orlando also declared state of emergency.
Update 11:12 am ET:
More from Badolato: Many of those brought into area hospitals, local reports say, were in grave critical condition. Hospitals are preparing for intensive trauma surgeries. In addition, local eyewitnesses reported seeing police officers doing chest compressions on victims in the back of pickup trucks.
Update 11:09 am ET:
ORLANDO, Fla — Breitbart News’ Andy Badolato, reporting from the scene, says the local police have swept the night club for bombs. They have not, however, removed any of the at least 50 dead bodies yet. At least 53 people were also taken to local hospitals putting, the victim count at at least 103 total. The status of those taken to area hospitals is unclear.
Update 10:54 am ET:
NBC’s Pete Williams reports that terrorist was on a “watch list” over associations w “suspicious” ppl several yrs ago.
Update 10:32 am ET:
BREAKING: Mayor: Orlando nightclub shooter used assault rifle, ‘there’s blood everywhere’
Update 10:29 am ET:
AP
BREAKING: Mayor: 50 casualties, including shooter, and 53 hospitalized in mass shooting at Orlando nightclub.
Update 9:54 am ET — Sessions:’More of these attacks are coming’
The GOP Senator said on Fox News:
And it’s not stopping as we see apparently today. More of these attacks are coming. It’s a real part of the threat that we face and if we can’t address it openly and directly, and say directly that there is an extremist element within Islam, that’s dangerous to the world and has to be confronted.
Meanwhile, #GunControlNow is trending on twitter.
Update 9:50 am ET: Blood donors needed.
Update 9:30 am ET:
CBS reports he is a U.S. citizen born to Afghan parents. CBS also notes that there may have bee multiple explosive devices that did not detonate.
Update 9:10 am ET: From USA TODAY:
- Witnesses reported seeing a bomb in the gunman’s possession, but the police did not confirm that detail
- Hostage situation lasted approximately three hours
Update 9:03 am ET: CNN reports that local hospitals are on lockdown:
A few miles away, the Orlando Regional Medical Center was placed on lockdown, the hospital said in a statement. Only essential workers are being allowed access into the building.Arnold Palmer Hospital and Winnie Palmer Hospital were also placed on lockdown out of an abundance of caution, officials said.
Update 8:22 am ET: The FBI believes the massacre may have perpetrated by someone “leanings to radical Islamic terrorism.”
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun took hostages and opened fire inside a crowded Florida nightclub, killing approximately 20 people dead and wounding 42 others before dying in a gunfight with SWAT officers, police said Sunday.
Police Chief John Mina also said the shooter had some sort of “suspicious device.” He said the suspect exchanged gunfire with an officer working at the club around 2 a.m., then went back inside and took hostages.
Around 5 a.m., authorities sent in a SWAT team to rescue the hostages, and the suspect then died in a gunfight with those officers. Mina said police have not determined an exact number of casualties, but that “approximately 20” people were dead inside the club.
FBI spokesman Danny Banks said during a news conference that the mass shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism. He says authorities are looking into whether this was an act of domestic or international terror, and if the shooter was a lone wolf.
Police had said previously on Twitter that there was a “controlled explosion” at the scene of the shooting at Pulse Orlando. Mina said that noise was caused by a device intended to distract the shooter.
Mina Justice was outside the club early Sunday 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 said. “That was the last conversation.”
Dozens of police vehicles, including a SWAT team, swarmed the area around the club. At least two police pickup trucks were seen taking what appeared to be shooting victims to the Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Pulse Orlando 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.”
Police said local, state and federal agencies were investigating.
The incident follows the fatal shooting late Friday of 22-year-old singer Christina Grimmie, who was killed after her concert in Orlando by a 27-year-old Florida man who later killed himself. Grimmie was a YouTube sensation and former contestant on “The Voice.”
Jon Alamo said he was at the back of one of the club’s rooms when a man holding a weapon came into the front of the room.
“I heard 20, 40, 50 shots,” Alamo said. “The music stopped.”
Club-goer Rob Rick said it happened around, 2 a.m., just before closing time.
“Everybody was drinking their last sip,” he said.
He estimated more than 100 people were still inside when he heard shots, got on the ground and crawled toward a DJ booth. A bouncer knocked down a partition between the club area and an area in the back where only workers are allowed. People inside were able to then escape through the back of the club.
Christopher Hansen said he was in the VIP lounge when he started hearing gunshots. He continued to hear shooting even after he emerged, where police were telling people to back away from the club. He saw injured people being tended to across the street.
“I was thinking, are you kidding me? So I just dropped down. I just said please, please, please, I want to make it out,” he said. “And when I did, I saw people shot. I saw blood. You hope and pray you don’t get shot.”
Gays Must Die Says Speaker At Orlando Mosque – WFTV 9 Orlando Report
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WarSclerotic 
June 12, 2016 at 6:37 PM
I got the same feeling as at the Paris and Brussels attacks !