“I saw blood. You hope and pray you don’t get shot”.
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“The next text said: ‘He has us, and he’s in here with us,”‘ she said.
USA officials cautioned, however, that they had no immediate evidence of any direct connection with Islamic State or any other foreign extremist group, nor had they uncovered any contacts between the gunman and any such group. “I just tried to get out of there”.
Mina Justice was outside the club trying to contact her son Eddie.
Authorities were investigating it as an act of terrorism.
He estimated more than 100 people were still inside when he heard shots, got on the ground and crawled toward a DJ booth.
The Florida shooting evolved into a hostage situation, which a team of SWAT officers ended around dawn when they used armored cars to storm the club before killing the gunman. A bouncer knocked down a partition between the club area and an area where only workers were allowed.
Note: We will continue to update this story throughout the day. Please keep everyone in your prayers as we work through this tragic event.
“The place where they were attacked is more than a nightclub – it is a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds and to advocate for their civil rights”, he said.
“Someone texted me to say, aren’t you afraid to be on Arenas tonight, with this happening”, the mayor recalled, standing outside Saint Paul in the Desert Episcopal Church, where he had just attended services.
“People were trampling over each other”, said Jillian Amador, whose arm was cut by broken glass.
“We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident”, Seddique said.
“Not only are we shocked and saddened by this attack on not only our LGBT brothers and sisters, but all Americans”.
Omar Mateen (29) had worked since September 2007 as a security guard in Florida with the British-based security company G4S, which is tasked in the USA with protecting federal buildings. In a 2012 newsletter, the firm identified him as working in West Palm Beach. “But they are naturally cautious and waiting throughout to see if if this is, facts emerge”, Nelson said at a news conference Sunday afternoon. State records show that Mateen had held a firearms license since at least 2011.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Danny Banks says the mass shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
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“There is never, ever any justification for such unacceptable crimes against humanity, crimes against God, crimes against our country”, said Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Florida branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. But one of them, Cathedral City resident Eugene Greenrock, said he was at least convinced the Orlando club’s attendance played a bigger role in attracting the shooter. Meanwhile, a SWAT truck and a bomb-disposal unit were on the scene of an address associated with Mateen in Fort Pierce, about 120 miles southeast of Orlando.
