A gunman wielding an assault-
type rifle and a handgun took hostages and opened
fire inside a crowded Florida gay nightclub, killing
approximately 50 people and wounding 53 others
before dying in a gunfight with SWAT officers,
police said Sunday.
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. Orlando authorities
said that 50 people were killed in the attack.
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.
“This is an incident, as I see it, that we certainly
classify as domestic terror incident,” said Orange
County Sheriff Jerry Demings.
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, a popular gay dance
club. Mina said that noise was caused by a device
intended to distract the shooter.
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.”
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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