Sunday, 2:02 a.m. ET: Shooting erupts at Pulse, a gay nightclub in the heart of Orlando, as some 320 people enjoy the club’s “Latin flavor” event.
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“People Are Getting Shot”: Witness Outside Orlando Nightclub**WARNING: Content may be disturbing to some viewers.** A witness outside the nightclub where 50 people were killed early Sunday morning filmed police cars and the sound of gunshots. In response, the Portland Police Bureau announced it plans to increase security patrols during the city’s annual celebration of its LGBTQ community.
Amaq, which is essentially the Islamic State’s wire service, has issued other claims in the past including for the Brussels attack in March.
Earlier this year Facebook apologized for a glitch in its Safety Check service that sent out misdirected notifications after the Easter Sunday bombing that killed 70 people in Lahore, Pakistan. Portland’s Q Center has organized the vigil, and will team up with Pride Northwest for another vigil Thursday. The FBI declined to say whether the shooting is a hate crime or terrorism, or both, but other outlets have reported law enformcement officials confirming that they are investigating the attack as an act of terrorism.
In 2014, the FBI again investigated Mateen after he had made contact with a suicide bomber under investigation by the FBI.
In 2013, the FBI investigated Mateen after he made “inflammatory remarks to coworkers”. His ex-wife said his family was from Afghanistan. Towns said his brother was hiding in a bathroom at the time.
The Vatican said in a statement that the incident had caused “the deepest feelings of horror” in Pope Francis.
“He seemed like a normal human being”, she told The Washington Post, adding that Mateen “was a very private person”.
“The bad massacre that has taken place in Orlando, with its dreadfully high number of innocent victims, has caused in Pope Francis, and in all of us, the deepest feelings of horror and condemnation. We are in shock like the whole country”.
G4S, the worldwide security firm, founded in the United Kingdom, has confirmed that Mateen had been an employee of theirs since 2007.
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“He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that”.
