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Obama calls Florida nightclub shooting an act of 'hate' and 'terror'

Shooting rampage kills 50, injures 53 at Florida gay nightclub in the country's worst mass shooting

U.S. President Barack Obama is calling Sunday's early morning shooting at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub a massacre that was an "act of terror" and an "act of hate."

Police say 50 people died and 53 were injured when a gunman opened fire in the Pulse nightclub early Sunday morning.

Obama said the shooting makes it a sad day for the country's LGBT communities and a reminder that any attack on Americans is an "attack on all of us."

The full resources of the federal government have been directed to find out more about the shooter's motive, he said.

"What is clear is that he was a person filled with hatred," Obama said. "And over the coming days we will uncover why and how this happened."

Obama also used the press conference to raise the issue of gun control, pointing out that the shooter carried an assault weapon and a handgun.

"It is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or a movie theatre or in a nightclub," he said. "And we have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be and to actively do nothing is a decision as well."

Obama has declared that flags will be flown at half-mast at the White House, public buildings, military bases as well as the embassies and other U.S. facilities abroad.

Orlando gunman Omar Mateen

The gunman has been identified as Omar Mateen, of Port St. Lucie, Fla. Police say he was killed in a shootout with SWAT team members. (Omar Mateen/MySpace)

The shooting began around 2 a.m. ET at the entrance to the Pulse nightclub. An officer working at the club exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who then went inside with "an assault-type rifle and a handgun," Orlando police Chief John W. Mina said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement of condolence on Sunday afternoon. 

"While authorities are still investigating and details continue to be confirmed, it is appalling that as many as 50 lives may have been lost to this domestic terror attack targeting the LGBTQ2 community," Trudeau said. "We grieve with our friends in the United States and Florida, and offer any assistance we can provide."

The suspect, killed by police after the mass shooting and hostage-taking, has been identified as Omar Mateen of Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Congressman Alan Grayson identified the man and said he was in his late 20s.  "He was a U.S. citizen. That's not true of some of his family members," he said.

It was an emotional scene outside police headquarters on June 12, whe-re witnesses, friends and family gathered to talk to police and find out more information about the deadly attack.

It was an emotional scene outside police headquarters on June 12, whe-re witnesses, friends and family gathered to talk to police and find out more information about the deadly attack. (Steve Nesius/Reuters)
 

 

Earlier, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings described the shooting as a possible "domestic terrorism incident."

A law enforcement official says the shooter had been looked at by FBI agents within the last few years.

The official spoke to The Associated Press Sunday about the shooting, the deadliest in U.S. history. The official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

 
 
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Officials on Orlando nightclub shooting27:37

 

Dozens of shots were fired at people inside the club, according to witnesses.

"For somebody to go in there and be an active shooter and take that number of lives and injure that many people, it's clearly an act of terror," Florida Gov. Rick Scott said.

A Democrat on the U.S. House Permanent Se-lect Committee on Intelligence, Congressman Adam Schiff, told CNN that, according to local police, the gunman had pledged allegiance to ISIS.

"The fact that this shooting took place during Ramadan and that ISIS leadership in Raqqa [Syria] has been urging attacks during this time, that the target was an LGBT nightclub during Pride, and — if accurate  — that according to local law enforcement the shooter declared his allegiance to ISIS, indicates an ISIS-inspired act of terrorism," he said.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson also spoke about the possibility of a connection to ISIS, but said it's not official.

NBC News reported on Twitter that Mateen called 911 before the shooting and swore allegiance to the Islamic State.

Police have not publicly confirmed any connection to ISIS in the shooting.

Police helped people escape

At one point, the gunman took hostages among the 300 people who were inside, Mina said. Around 5 a.m., police sent in a SWAT team and were able to help about 30 people escape.

Nightclub Shooting Florida

An injured person is escorted out of Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., after a shooting rampage early Sunday, June 12, 2016. At least 50 people were killed and just as many injured. (Steven Fernandez/Associated Press)

There was another exchange of gunfire between the gunman and police and the suspect was killed, he said. Authorities said they had secured the suspect's vehicle, a van, right outside the club.

Pulse describes itself on Facebook and its website as a gay bar and said it was welcoming guests for Latin Night on Saturday. Once the gunman entered, one of its postings said: "Everyone get out of pulse and keep running."

Multiple emergency vehicles responded to the scene of the shooting, including the Orlando Fire Department's bomb squad and hazardous material team.

 

 

Police said officers carried out a "controlled explosion" at the club hours after the shooting broke out, but did not explain why that was done.

"I just saw bodies going down," said customer Chris Hansen, who was ordering a drink f-rom the bar when the shooting began.

'I crawled out'

 

"I fell down. I crawled out. People were trying to escape out the back."

Outside, Hansen helped a man who had been shot in the back by placing a bandana on his wound to stem the bleeding. He also helped a woman who was shot in the arm.

Police say nine officers tried to end the standoff by exchanging gunfire with the suspect and one officer took a bullet to one side of his head, but was spared a more serious injury because of his Kevlar helmet.

FLORIDA-SHOOTING/

Friends and family members embrace outside the Orlando police headquarters after the shooting. (Steve Nesius/Reuters)

Six trauma surgeons were called overnight to Orlando's Regional Medical Center to operate on the victims. Many of them have been described as critically wounded and one surgeon said the death toll was likely to climb.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said all of the dead were killed with the assault rifle.

"There's blood everywhe-re," Dyer said.

It was the worst mass shooting on record in the United States, with more dead than the Virginia Tech killings, when 32 people were slain by a gunman in Blacksburg, Va., on April 16, 2007.

Gunman held hostages

A woman whose son was in the club said the gunman was holding hostages in the women's washroom.

 

"He was texting me and calling me," she said, adding, "he's telling me he's going to die."

Justin Barnes was stopped in his car at a red light near the nightclub when the first round of gunfire erupted.

"People were screaming and yelling and the officer that was there, he was firing his weapon at the guy and yelling 'get the f--k out of the way.' People were running past my car," he told CBC News.

"One lady was dragging her leg and she was bleeding," Barnes said. "I could literally smell gunpowder f-rom whe-re my car was sitting."

Kenya Michaels, a drag queen f-rom Puerto Rico, was scheduled to perform at Pulse on Saturday night. Social media postings said Michaels was safe after escaping with the club's manager.

 

"We are a strong, resilient community," Dyer told reporters. "We need to stand strong and we need to be supportive of the victims and their families."

Hundreds of people in Orlando have lined up to give blood to help the victims.

Officials at OneBlood say they have received such an overwhelming response that they are now asking donors to come back over the next several days.

In December, the nation's three-decade-old ban on blood donations f-rom gay and bisexual men was formally lifted, but there are still major restrictions to limit who can give blood. The Food and Drug Administration said it replaced the lifetime ban with a new policy barring donations f-rom men who have had sex with a man in the previous year.

The attack follows the fatal shooting on 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."

Pulse Shooting Orlando

Jermaine Towns, left, and Brandon Shuford wait down the street f-rom the scene of the shooting. Towns said his brother was in the club when a gunman opened fire. (Phelan M. Ebenhac/Associated Press)

 

With files f-rom The Associated Press and Reuters

Author: CBC

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