At least 50 people have been killed and dozens more injured after a gunman opened fire in a packed gay nightclub in a “terror attack” in the US.
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HollywoodLifers, our thoughts are with the loved ones of the victims of the shootings at Pulse during this hard time.
Pulse Orlando on its Facebook page.
Mina said 42 people were transferred to local hospitals. About three hours later, a SWAT team made the decision to go inside and rescue the hostages. The suspect at some point went back inside the club and more shots were fired.
It was unclear whether all the victims were killed by the gunman or if some died in the ensuing shootout with police.
A loud bang was heard before 5 a.m., but Orlando Police tweeted that it was controlled explosion by law enforcement. “They were kissing each other and touching each other and he said, ‘Look at that”.
Orlando Regional Medical Center was placed on lockdown, with only essential workers and relatives of victims allowed access, it said in a Twitter message.
“I heard 20, 40, 50 shots”, Alamo said.
President Barack Obama was briefed on the shooting and asked the FBI and other federal officials to provide him with regular updates, a statement said.
The massacre comes just one day after another tragic shooting in Orlando: the fatal shooting of singer and The Voice season six finalist Christina Grimmie, 22.
Club-goer Christopher Hansen didn’t actually see the shooter in the crowded venue, but when bodies started dropping, he hit the ground and started crawling, he told reporters after he escaped.
“We do have suggestions that that individual may have leanings toward that particular ideology but we can’t say definitively”, he said.
CNN affiliate WKMG video captured clubgoers carrying injured people from the club. “It could have lasted a whole song”, he said. Authorities have also warned the public to stay away from the area.
A flyer promotes a recent special night at Pulse, the scene of the terrorist attack. “And he saw two men kissing each other in front of his wife and kid and he got very angry”, Mir Seddique, told NBC News on Sunday.
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Scores of people turned out for the show: A contest of dancing, lip-synching drag queens took the floor one by one, showing their best dance moves, sashaying in high heels, as patrons laughed, nursed their cocktails, tossed dollar bills onto the stage.
