* The gunman, Omar Mateen, 29, of Fort Pierce, Florida, was interviewed by the FBI in 2013 and 2014 but was not found to be a threat, the FBI said. * Mateen called 911 during the attack to pledge allegiance to ISIS and mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers, according to a U.S. official. * Orlando police shot and killed Mateen. * Mateen's ex-wife said she thinks he was mentally ill. Mateen carried an assault rifle and a pistol into the packed Pulse club about 2 a.m. Sunday and started shooting, killing 49 people and wounding at least 53, officials said. After a standoff of about three hours, while people trapped inside the club desperately called and messaged friends and relatives, police crashed into the building with an armored vehicle and stun grenades and killed Mateen. "It appears he was organized and well-prepared," Orlando Police Chief John Mina said early Sunday. Authorities said they haven't found any accomplices. 'An act of hate' There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack on jihadi forums, but ISIS sympathizers have reacted by praising the attack on pro-Islamic State forums. "We know enough to say this was an act of terror and act of hate," President Obama said in an address to the nation from the White House. While the violence could have hit any American community, "This is an especially heartbreaking day for our friends who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender," he said. Omar Mir Seddique Mateen was born in 1986 in New York. Most recently he lived in Fort Pierce, about 120 miles southeast of Orlando. Fearing explosives, police evacuated about 200 people from the apartment complex where he lived while they looked through his residence for evidence. Mateen's parents, who are from Afghanistan, said he'd expressed outrage after seeing two men kiss in Miami, but they didn't consider him particularly religious and didn't know of any connection he had to ISIS. He was married in 2009 to a woman originally from Uzbekistan, according to the marriage license, but he filed documents to end the marriage in 2011. Sitora Yusufiy, interviewed by CNN in Boulder, Colorado, said she and Mateen were together about four months, though it took a long time to complete the divorce because they lived in different parts of the country after separating. Mateen was a normal husband at the beginning of their marriage but started abusing her after a few months, she said. She said Mateen was bipolar, although he was not formally diagnosed. She also said Mateen had a history with steroids. He was religious but she said she doesn't think his religion played in to the attack. Mateen had worked since 2007 as a security officer at G4S Secure Solutions, one of the world's largest private security companies. A message posted in Arabic on a dark web site associated with the ISIS news agency Amaq said "the armed attack that targeted a gay night club in the city of Orlando in the American state of Florida and that bore more than a 100 killed and wounded was carried out by an Islamic state fighter." But CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, who translated the message and closely monitors ISIS messaging, cautioned about taking the message at face value. She said the language is inconsistent with previous ISIS announcements and that the Arabic word for gay was used rather than an epithet normally used by ISIS. Also, there was no claim that the attack was directed, just an after-the-fact claim the gunman was an ISIS fighter, she said. At a Sunday afternoon news briefing, FBI Assistant Special Agent Ronald Hopper said the agency was aware of Mateen. The FBI interviewed him in 2013 and 2014 after he expressed sympathy for a suicide bomber, Hopper said. "Those interviews turned out to be inconclusive, so there was nothing to keep the investigation going," Hopper said. Mateen was not under investigation at the time of Sunday's shooting and was not under surveillance, Hopper said. In the past two weeks Mateen legally purchased a Glock pistol and a long gun, ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Trevor Velinor told reporters. It's not known if those weapons were used in the attack. "He is not a prohibited person. They can legally walk into a gun dealership and acquire and purchase firearms. He did so. And he did so within the last week or so," Velinor said. Scene inside the club Pulse describes itself as "the hottest gay bar" in the heart of Orlando. Hours before the shooting, the club urged partygoers to attend its "Latin flavor" event Saturday night. The club is a vast, open space that was hosting more than 300 patrons late Saturday and into Sunday morning. People inside the cavernous nightclub described a scene of panic made more confusing by the loud music and darkness. "At first it sounded like it was part of the show because there was an event going on and we were all having a good time," clubgoer Andy Moss said. "But once people started screaming and shots just keep ringing out, you know that it's not a show anymore." Christopher Hansen said he was getting a drink at the bar about 2 a.m. when he "just saw bodies going down." He heard gunshots, "just one after another after another." The gunshots went on for so long that the shooting "could have lasted a whole song," he said. When the shots erupted, Hansen hit the ground, crawling on his elbows and knees, before he spotted a man who had been shot. "I took my bandana off and shoved it in the hole in his back," Hansen said, adding that he saw another woman who appeared to be shot in the arm. Survivors provided CNN with dramatic accounts of how they avoided death. One person hiding in the bathroom covered herself with bodies to protect herself. Some entertainers hid in a dressing room when the shooting started and escaped the building by crawling out when police removed the air conditioning unit. One of the bartenders said she hid under the glass bar. Police came in and said, "If you are alive, raise your hand." Then police got her and others out. After the initial shooting, police surrounded the club while Mateen was inside with clubgoers hiding in bathrooms and other parts of the building. People inside the club were communicating on their phones with law enforcement from that time until around 5 a.m., when authorities used an armored vehicle to break down the door of the building. Hospital swamped with victims Thirty-nine people and Mateen were pronounced dead at the scene, with two bodies found in the parking lot, Mayor Buddy Dyer said. Eleven people were taken to hospitals and pronounced dead there, he said. The City of Orlando is posting names of the deceased on a website after next of kin are notified. The youngest person among the first seven named, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, was 20 years old. Forty-three of the wounded people were patients on Sunday afternoon at Orlando Regional Medical Center, a hospital spokesperson said, with 26 operations being performed. Before Sunday, the deadliest shootings in U.S. history were at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, with 32 and 27 killed. Fourteen people were killed December 2 in an attack in San Berardino, California.National media attention was already focused on Orlando over the weekend because of Friday night's fatal shooting of Christina Grimmie while she signed autographs after a show. She was an up-and-coming singer who had appeared on NBC's "The Voice." Her shooter then killed himself. The Pulse shooting happened only a few miles from the Plaza Live theater, where Grimmie was killed. Dyer, the mayor, called for the city to come together. "We need to support each other. We need to love each other. And we will not be defined by a hateful shooter," he said. President Obama called for flags to be lowered to half staff and Florida Gov. Rick Scott called for a moment of silence across the nation at 6 p.m. Sunday. States of emergency were declared for the city of Orlando and for Orange County. Santa Monica arrest Also on Sunday, authorities in West Hollywood, California, arrested 20-year-old James Wesley Howell. They said they found an arsenal in his car that included, three assault rifles, high-capacity magazines, ammunition and a five-gallon bucket with chemicals that could be used to create an explosive device, officials said. At 5 a.m. PT, police got a call about a prowler and found Howell, who told authorities he was looking for a friend to attend the LA Pride festival. There was no indication the arrest was related to the Orlando attack. Police on leave Eleven Orlando police officers and three sheriff's deputies who exchanged gunfire with the suspect will be temporarily relieved of duty pending an investigation. One officer suffered an eye injury when a bullet struck his Kevlar helmet, said Danny Banks, special agent in charge of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Orlando bureau. The helmet saved the officer's life, Banks said. 'This is a hate crime' The attacks were denounced on Sunday by numerous groups, including the Vatican, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "This is a hate crime, plain and simple," CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said. "We condemn it in the strongest possible terms." Nadine Smith of Equality Florida said groups are planning vigils around the nation. "It has just been a devastating day but people are starting to rally," she said. Barbara Poma, owner of the Orlando nightclub Pulse, released the following statement on Sunday: "Like everyone in the country, I am devastated about the horrific events that have taken place today. Pulse, and the men and women who work there, have been my family for nearly 15 years. From the beginning, Pulse has served as a place of love and acceptance for the LGBTQ community. I want to express my profound sadness and condolences to all who have lost loved ones. Please know that my grief and heart are with you." CNN's terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank, John Couwels, Joe Sutton, Vivian Kuo, Deborah Bloom, Pamela Brown, Evan Perez, Shimon Prokupecz, and MaryLynn Ryan contributed to this report.
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Gunman Omar Mateen killed 49 people and injured 53 others when he opened fire at a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Mateen was fatally shot by police. Police have notified the next of kin for nearly all of the victims. The FBI had questioned Mateen twice in the past, but he still legally obtained guns. President Barack Obama said there were no links to a larger terror plot but that Mateen was inspired by "extremist information." ORLANDO, Fla. -- Harrowing new details emerged Monday about the man who killed 49 people and injured another 53 at an iconic gay club in Orlando, Florida, in an hourslong attack that has been described as the worst mass shooting on U.S. soil. Authorities have been reaching out to families of the victims as many wait for news about loved ones feared dead after the shooting. By Monday afternoon, police had notified the next of kin for about 46 victims. This is what we know about the victims. The Pulse club, known as a lifeline for Orlando's LGBTQ community, was packed early Sunday morning when gunman Omar Mateen stormed in, taking dozens of people hostage before dialing 911 from the venue's bathroom. Mateen was fatally shot by authorities, who burst into the club after he threatened more lives and suggested he was wearing explosives. Investigation President Barack Obama on Monday denied claims that Mateen was participating in a larger terror plot. "The one thing that we can say is that this is being treated as a terrorist investigation," Obama said. "It appears that the shooter was inspired by various extremist information that was disseminated over the internet." FBI Director James Comey echoed Obama's statement in a news conference, saying there is so far "no indication that this was a plot directed outside the United States." Mateen called 911 twice early Sunday from the scene, Comey said. He first called and hung up; then he called back and spoke briefly with a dispatcher before hanging up again. Finally, the dispatcher called him back and they spoke. During these calls, Comey said, Mateen pledged solidarity with the Tsarnaev brothers, who were responsible for the Boston marathon bombing, and with a Florida man who died in a suicide bombing while fighting for the al Nusra front, a terror organization linked to al Qaeda that is battling the Syrian government. Timeline Mateen entered the club around 2 a.m. Sunday with a semi-automatic Sig Sauer MCX rifle and handgun. He began shooting, and at one point entered a gunfight with an armed, off-duty officer. Mateen left the building, then went back in, where the violence turned into a hostage situation, said Orlando Police Chief John Mina. Mateen retreated to the bathroom, where he appeared to have held 15 to 20 people hostage. José Colom, 48, lives down the street from Pulse and was near the club when the shooter arrived. He said Mateen drove up, appeared to change clothing in his car, then emerged with weapons in his hands. He shot three people outside before entering the building, Colom said. During a press conference Monday, Mina described Mateen as "cool and calm" in a conversation with negotiators, in which they discussed bombs, explosives and the so-called Islamic State. "We believed that further loss of life was imminent," Mina added. He said that prompted a SWAT team to detonate an explosive on a bathroom wall, and expand the hole using an armored vehicle to allow people to escape. "We were able to rescue dozens and dozens of people who came out of that hole," Mina added. "The suspect came out of that hole himself carrying a handgun and a long gun." A short time later, officers killed Mateen in a gunfire battle. A total of 11 officers exchanged fire with Mateen, and all have been removed from duty, as is protocol for officer-involved shootings. Mateen purchased a handgun and the Sig Sauer MCX approximately one week before the shooting, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Despite being questioned by the FBI in 2013 for suspected terrorist ties, then again in 2014, Mateen was still able to obtain the guns legally. The semi-automatic assault weapon Mateen used was similar to the AR-15, yet another legally obtainable weapon used in a number of other tragedies. It was used to kill schoolchildren at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut; moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado; and office workers at a social services center in San Bernardino, California. Warning Signs Several accounts of Mateen's disposition before the attack have cast the man as a dangerous figure who set off warning bells at home and in the workplace. In an interview with The Washington Post, Mateen's ex-wife said he was an abusive husband who routinely beat her during their marriage. "He was not a stable person," said the woman, who requested to remain anonymous out of fears for her safety. "He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn't finished or something like that." In May 2013, while Mateen was working as a security guard at a Florida courthouse, the FBI investigated him for inflammatory comments he made to co-workers. Comey said Mateen told co-workers that he had hoped that "law enforcement would raid his apartment and assault his wife and child so he could murder himself." The gunman also mentioned that his family had ties to al Qaeda and Hezbollah. During an interview with FBI agents, Mateen said he made the comments because he believed he was being teased for being Muslim. Daniel Gilroy, who previously worked with Mateen as a security guard, told the Los Angeles Times he complained to their employer "multiple times that he was dangerous," including one incident where Mateen said he wanted to kill black people. Gilroy said that women, Jewish people and queer people all equally angered Mateen. "You meet bigots," Gilroy said. "But he was above and beyond. He was always angry, sweating, just angry at the world." The FBI investigated Mateen again in 2014 amid concerns he had ties to American suicide bomber Moner Mohammad Abusalha. The investigation was eventually closed. Pulse Is A Place Of "Love And Acceptance" Pulse's co-owner Barbara Poma expressed her "profound sadness" over the tragedy in a statement on the club's website. "From the beginning, Pulse has served as a place of love and acceptance for the LGBTQ community," she said. "I want to express my profound sadness and condolences to all who have lost loved ones. Please know that my grief and heart are with you." The shooting comes during Pride month, a celebration of the LGBTQ community. Local blood banks in Orlando have been flooded with volunteers and donors. Equality Florida, an LGBTQ civil rights organization, set up a GoFundMe account for the victims of the shooting. The donation page had raised more than $1 million as of midday Monday. Nina Golgowski, Nick Visser and Reuters contributed to this report. This piece has been updated with information from the police about the type of assault weapon the suspect used. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Gov. Scott Walker asking for a moment of silence. Walker is the governor of Wisconsin, not the governor of Florida. |
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