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Title: BREAKING: At Least 20 Dead In 'Domestic Terror' Incident At Orlando Nightclub | CBS News: Gunman Identified As U.S. Citizen Omar Mateen
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URL Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/06/12/orlando-nightclub-shooting/
Published: Jun 12, 2016
Author: Staff
Post Date: 2016-06-12 10:21:04 by Horse
Keywords: None
Views: 453
Comments: 22
ORLANDO, Fla. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun took hostages and opened fire inside a crowded Florida nightclub, killing approximately 20 people and wounding 42 others before dying in a gunfight with SWAT officers, police said Sunday. Follow Orlando Police @OrlandoPolice Pulse nightclub shooting: Approximately 20 people dead inside the club. Police Chief John Mina also said the shooter had some sort of “suspicious device.” He said the suspect exchanged gunfire with an officer working at the club around 2 a.m., then went back inside and took hostages among more than 300 people inside. Around 5 a.m., authorities sent in a SWAT team to rescue the hostages, and the suspect then died in a gunfight with those officers. Mina said police have not determined an exact number of casualties, but that “approximately 20” people were dead inside the club. Law enforcement sources told CBS News the gunman has been identified as Omar Mateen, a U.S. citizen from Port St. Lucie. Mateen was born to Afghan parents in 1986. CBS News reports Mateen has no apparent criminal history and that authorities are investigating whether he had ties to Islamic terrorism. Follow CBS News ✔ @CBSNews MORE: Orlando shooter ID'd as Omar Mateen, U.S. citizen from Port St. Lucie, FL http://cbsn.ws/1PU8x4x CBS News reports that authorities are “leaning towards Islamic terrorism” as a motive. Law enforcement sources said the shooting had similarities to the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels. CBS2’s Magdalena Doris reported the hostage standoff lasted for three hours. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said it was an act of “domestic terror.” “At this point, this is an incident, as I can see it, we can certainly classify as a domestic terror incident,” Jerry Demings of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said. Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Danny Banks said during a news conference that the mass shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism. He says authorities are looking into whether this was an act of domestic or international terror, and if the shooter was a lone wolf. FBI Special Agent in Charge Ron Hopper said there’s no further threat to Orlando or the surrounding area. When asked if the gunman had a connection to radical Islamic terrorism, Hopper said, “we do have suggestions that individual has leanings towards that.” Police had said previously on Twitter that there was a “controlled explosion” at the scene of the shooting at Pulse Orlando. Mina said that noise was caused by a device intended to distract the shooter. President Barack Obama has been briefed on the nightclub attack. Follow Nick Bryant @NickBryantNY White House statement on #PulseNightclub @BBCNewsUS 8:27 AM - 12 Jun 2016 Mina Justice was outside the club early Sunday trying to contact her 30-year-old son Eddie, who texted her when the shooting happened and asked her to call police. He told her he ran into a bathroom with other club patrons to hide. He then texted her: “He’s coming.” “The next text said: ‘He has us, and he’s in here with us,”‘ she said. “That was the last conversation.” Dozens of police vehicles, including a SWAT team, swarmed the area around the club. At least two police pickup trucks were seen taking what appeared to be shooting victims to the Orlando Regional Medical Center. Pulse Orlando posted on its own Facebook page around 2 a.m.: “Everyone get out of pulse and keep running.” Just before 6 a.m., the club posted an update: “As soon as we have any information we will update everyone. Please keep everyone in your prayers as we work through this tragic event. Thank you for your thoughts and love.” Pulse describes itself as the “hottest gay bar in Orlando.” CBS affiliate WKMG-TV reported that it was “Latin Night” at the nightclub at the time of the shooting. Police said local, state and federal agencies were investigating. The incident 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. Grimmie was a YouTube sensation and former contestant on “The Voice.” Jon Alamo said he was at the back of one of the club’s rooms when a man holding a weapon came into the front of the room. “I heard 20, 40, 50 shots,” Alamo said. “The music stopped.” Club-goer Rob Rick said it happened around, 2 a.m., just before closing time. “Everybody was drinking their last sip,” he said. He estimated more than 100 people were still inside when he heard shots, got on the ground and crawled toward a DJ booth. A bouncer knocked down a partition between the club area and an area in the back where only workers are allowed. People inside were able to then escape through the back of the club. Christopher Hansen said he was in the VIP lounge when he started hearing gunshots. He continued to hear shooting even after he emerged, where police were telling people to back away from the club. He saw injured people being tended to across the street. “I was thinking, are you kidding me? So I just dropped down. I just said please, please, please, I want to make it out,” he said. “And when I did, I saw people shot. I saw blood. You hope and pray you don’t get shot.”
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#3. To: Horse (#0)
They say 50 dead now. As it seems it's Islam inspired, Trump popularity will inevitably get a boost from this.
Hard to believe that one shooter could wreak that much destruction...
One AR (presumptively) and some kind of a handgun. One shooter. 103 casualties. There's always something hard to put together with the first accounts reported after the latest disaster. (BTW, the first report I'd heard about 911 on the car radio was that a "light plane" had hit a WTC building.)
Even with 30 rounds clips, that means at least 3 reloads. Though the .223 round, which is normal for AR-15s I think, is high velocity, and in a crowded place, a single round could strike several people.
This is a WFTV channel 9 pic of said establishment. A building like this must have around 3 to 4 entrance/exit doors. How does a shooter corral over one hundred folks for execution in such an environment? Just asking.
#13. To: randge (#12)
Certainly fire regs would require multiple exits be available. Though establishments don't always follow the regs, and sometimes may even illegally lock some exits to prevent people from coming in without paying cover. But in a crowded place, it can take a very long time for people to exit, and more so if everyone is panicking/stampeding. Heck, some of the injuries, even serious ones or even deaths, may have resulted from that and not any shootings. Since this was obviously premeditated, the shooter may well have blocked or chained the exits himself minutes before reentering with guns. How many people would have noticed? But yes what happened with the alternate exits is a legit question.
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#6. To: Pinguinite (#3)
#9. To: Lod (#6)
Hard to believe
#10. To: randge (#9)
One AR (presumptively) and some kind of a handgun. One shooter. 103 casualties
#12. To: Pinguinite, Lod (#10)
Replies to Comment # 12.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 12.