A heavily armed Afghan American, Omar Seddique Mateen opened fire in a packed nightclub early Sunday, killing 50 people in the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history, authorities said.
According to a report by USA Today, Mayor Buddy Dyer said 53 people were wounded at Pulse Orlando,Florida a gay club just south of downtown.
Islamic State’s Amaq news agency said on Sunday that the Islamist militant group was responsible for the shooting.
The Islamic State media outlet said the perpetrator of the Orlando nightclub attack was a member of the extremist organisation.
“The armed attack that targeted a gay night club in the city of Orlando in the American state of Florida which left over 100 people dead or injured was carried out by an Islamic State fighter,” Amaq said.
A federal law enforcement official said the shooter, Mateen was from Port St. Lucie, Fla. The suspect’s father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News on Sunday that he was “in shock,” but that his son had recently expressed anti-gay sentiments. He said the attack “had nothing to do with religion.”
Police Chief John Mina said the tragedy began at 2:02 a.m., when three police officers engaged the suspect in a gun battle outside the club. A hostage situation then took place inside, and a SWAT team was called in, Mina said. Police received updates from patrons trapped in the club, and decided to storm the club at about 5 a.m.
“Our biggest concern was further loss of life,” Mina said. “We exchanged gunfire with the suspect, and he was dead at the scene.”
Mina initially estimated the death toll at more than 20 people. Hours later the true scale of the horror was revealed. Mina said one officer was wounded and at least 30 people were rescued.
“My brother’s wife called me looking for him after she heard the news,” he said. “I called his cell phone and he would not answer.”
President Obama expressed his condolences to all the families and loved ones involved.
The White House said Obama was getting updates on the case from Homeland Security.
June is Gay Pride month across the nation, and Orlando recently wrapped up its annual week-long Gay Days festival. Up to 150,000 in the LGBT community attended area theme parks, gay nightclubs and special events. It remains one of the largest gay pride events in the world.
Saturday night into Sunday the club was celebrating Latin Night. Club patron Christopher Hansen told CNN he heard what could have been 20 or 30 shots, setting off a panic as people scrambled for cover or raced for the exits. He said he helped a couple people who were wounded.
“It’s just shocking,” said Hansen, who crawled to safety. “I just saw bodies going down.”
As the tragedy was unfolding, Pulse Orlando posted to its Facebook page: “Everyone get out of Pulse and keep running.”
Ali Kurnaz, 25, told USA TODAY he was working in his living room about a block from the nightclub when he heard gunfire.
“I could hear multiple rounds of gunfire to the point where it scared my cats,” Kurnaz said. “They came running from a different room.”
Kurnaz said he heard sirens as multiple police cars headed to the crime scene and helicopters flying over his neighborhood.
In some tweets appearing to come from inside Pulse nightclub short after the assault, people said they were hiding. Twitter users also said they heard multiple gunshots.
The shooting spree came just one day after The Voice star Christina Grimmie was shot and killed after a concert Friday night at the Plaza Live Theatre in Orlando. That gunman, identified as Kevin James Loibl, 27, of St. Petersburg, Fla., fatally shot himself after the attack.