Omar Mateen, who police say is responsible for Sunday’s mass shooting in Orlando, was married in 2009 and divorced two years later, records show.
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Authorities said an off-duty officer who worked at the club was the first to respond and eventually engaged with the suspect.
Authorities in Orlando are now undergoing the grim task of identifying the dead and notifying their relatives.
President Barack Obama is to address the nation at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the wake of the mass shooting.
The former wife told the news outlet that she had met Mateen online about eight years ago and made a decision to move to Florida and marry him.
“New Yorkers should know that the NYPD has more than 500 officers dedicated exclusively to terror response, hundreds more to the prevention of incidents, and is constantly working with law enforcement and community partners to counter terror”, the police said.
Kenneth Melendez told the Orlando Sentinel that he and his friends were at the club when the shooting happened. Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency, and was traveling to Orlando, vowing to expend all resources to help.
“Everyone get out of pulse and keep running”, Pulse Orlando posted to its Facebook page at 2:09 a.m.
“People are screaming that people are dead”, Torres wrote in another post.
To escape, customers had to jump an estimated 6-foot privacy fence, since there was only one way out, a person who was at Pulse nightclub during the shooting told CNN.
A spokesman said Biden “offered his prayers for all those killed and injured in the shooting and sends his condolences to all the families and loved ones of the victims”.
“The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is shocked and horrified at the heinous attack at The Pulse nightclub in Orlando, targeting the LGBT community”, the statement reads.
Dozens of police vehicles swarmed the area around the club. “And when I did, I saw people shot”. Murray said she had not heard from her daughter since.
“The shooter was armed a handgun and a poweful assault rifle”. “Nine officers were involved and one of our officers was injured”. At least two police pickup trucks were seen taking what appeared to be shooting victims to the Orlando Regional Medical Center. “Once we’re able to do that, once the notification is made, then more details will be able to be shared, most likely from our counterterrorism division up at Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters”, Hopper said.
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The attack follows the fatal shooting late 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.
