Omar Mateen identified as Orlando nightclub shooter, claims allegiance to Islamic State
An Orlando gay nightclub was the site of a horrific terrorist attack by a Ft. Pierce, Florida Muslim man, Omar Mateen, claiming allegiance to Islamic State. While reports are unclear, at least 50 are dead and another 50 or more are were injured.
The gunfire began around 2 a.m. at Pulse, causing some to hide in bathrooms and run for cover. The shooting became a hostage situation, which lasted roughly three hours and left 50 people dead, including the shooter, according to police. More than 50 people were also taken to hospitals with injuries.
“Bang! Bang! Screaming. And loud noises. The guy next to me was shot … when I turned around to look everyone was falling and dropping and screaming,” said Christopher Hansen who was in Pulse when the shooting started.
Hansen described on Orlando Sentinel reporter Christal Hayes’ live video that he was reassured, in a way, by the noise.
“I just know when you hear the bang you’re not shot, so I knew I was OK at that particular moment. I didn’t know how long it would last.”
From Twitter @NPR:
Orlando gunman Omar Mateen called 911 before attack, pledged allegiance to Islamic State, law enforcement sources tell NPR’s
@johnson_carrie
Public records show Mateen, 29, was divorced in 2011 and his ex-wife said today he was violent, mentally unstable and beat her repeatedly when they were married. The woman said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and moved to Florida to marry him, as first reported by The Washington Post.
“He was not a stable person,” the ex-wife said, according to the Post. “He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.”
FBI assistant agent in charge of the agency’s Tampa division, Ron Hopper, said this morning investigators were “looking at all angles right now” to find a motive.
“We do have suggestions that that individual may have leanings towards that, that particular ideology [Islamic extremism]. But right now we can’t say definitively, so we’re still running everything around,” he said.
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson later said that information from intelligence sources indicated there “appears to be a link to Islamic radicalism … some kind of connection to ISIS.”
In the past two weeks Mateen legally purchased a Glock pistol, found at the shooting scene, from a St. Lucie County area gun store, a law enforcement official said.
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