Officers killed the gunman, who they called a “lone wolf”, in a shootout just before 6 a.m. They have yet to identify the shooter, who was carrying an assault rifle, a handgun and possibly wearing an explosive “device”, the Sentinel reported.
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A message posted on the Pulse Nightclub Facebook page warns patrons to “Everyone get out of pulse and keep running”.
Investigators have said he called 911 before the shooting, pledging allegiance to ISIS.
Authorities also say Mateen legally purchased at least two firearms within the past week or so. “We we very well could have been the target this weekend”, Bass said.
Claire North, who has lived in Florida for 21 years, has spent much of the day watching the news, following the shooting. He was working as a correctional officer at a juvenile delinquent center to gain experience in law enforcement.
Florida public records confirm that Mateen had a permit to carry a concealed weapon and was a licensed security guard, first at a facility for juvenile delinquents and later for G4S, a security company. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he did not want to be linked to coverage of the shooting. She said he wanted to be a police officer and had applied to the police academy.
Affa, who has operated her namesake bar for more than three decades, said she was shocked by the violence in Orlando. Their divorce was finalized in 2011.
Acquaintances gave conflicting views about Mateen’s religiosity.
Yusufiy, who met Mateen online and married him in 2009, said he practiced Islam but showed no signs of radicalization. He said 42 people had been hospitalized. Singer Christina Grimmie, a 22-year-old YouTube star and one-time contestant of the TV talent show “The Voice“, was fatally shot by a man during a meet-and-greet session with fans outside her concert in the same city Friday night. But Islamic State should be seen as both an insurgency – which is struggling to hold on to its territory – and as a global terrorist organization, which is recording successes, said Charlie Winter, a senior research associate at Georgia State University who studies transnational jihadist movements and insurgencies.
A 2015 Justice Canada report found that police data were likely to “seriously underestimate” the extent of hate crimes targeting the LGBT community because they were less likely than other victim groups to report incidents to police.
Among the scheduled speakers for this evening will be openly gay Vancouver City Councillor Tim Stevenson, who says the only way to overcome the tragedy will be to resist the urge to hate. “There was no indication at all that he would do something violent”.
The shooting “was totally unexpected”, Rahman said.
Snaps have now emerged of some of those killed by the 29-year-old.
“It’s just so nerve-racking”, Arocho said.
A New Zealand woman living in Orlando has considered moving home after two shootings in as many days have rocked Florida, leaving more than 50 dead. Mateen frequently prayed on a mat while at work, he said.
“We were in Downtown Miami, Bayside, people were playing music”. “And then we were in the men’s bathroom and men were kissing each other”.
LePaige’s show of solidarity was echoed across South Florida.
In one video, Mateen denounces the Pakistani government and speaks favorably about the Taliban, the Washington Post said. “Inshallah the Durand Line issue will be solved soon”.
“What has happened in Orlando is just the beginning”.
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“I order national army, national police and intelligence department to immediately imprison Karzai, Ashraf Ghani, Zalmay Khalilzad, Atmar, and Sayyaf”. They are against our countrymen, and against our homeland, ” he says, while dressed in army fatigues.
