At least 49 people were killed at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida on Sunday in the deadliest mass shooting and worst terror attack in the United States since 9/11.
The gunman, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old American-born man from Fort Pierce, Florida started shooting at packed Pulse club at around 2 am Sunday, killing 49 people and injuring at least 53. The Pulse Club bills itself as “the hottest gay bar” in the city.
Mateen was carrying an assault rifle and a pistol with him, and had pledged allegiance to ISIS in the past.
Dozens of people remained hostage in the club for several hours after the initial shooting. Mateen was killed after Orlando police crashed into the club with an armored vehicle and shot him dead. At about 6 a.m. local time, police tweeted that the gunman has been killed.
“It appears he was organized and well-prepared,” Orlando Police Chief John Mina said on Sunday.
Mateen was also heard shouting “Allah Akbar” while engaging police officers, according to some police officials. He also called 911 after killing people and pledged allegiance to ISIS.
President Obama described it an act of terror and hate and said it was a “heartbreaking day” for people “who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.”
“We know enough to say this was an act of terror and act of hate,” he said.
According to authorities, Mateen was born in New York, and was recently living in Fort Pierce. In 2009, he got married to a woman from Uzbekistan, but the couple filed documents for divorce in 2011. Mateen was a Muslim and was born to parents of Afghan origin.
“He was not a stable person,” the ex-wife told The Washington Post.
“He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.”
According to Mateen’s parents, he had once got angered to see two men kiss in Miami, but he was not particularly religious.
After the attack, a message posted in Arabic on a dark website Amaq said “the armed attack that targeted a gay night club in the city of Orlando in the American state of Florida and that bore more than a 100 killed and wounded was carried out by an Islamic state fighter.”
FBI had interviewed Mateen in 2013 and 2014, but at that time, he was not considered a threat.
“Those interviews turned out to be inconclusive, so there was nothing to keep the investigation going,” FBI Assistant Special Agent Ronald Hopper said.
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