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It all started at 2am Sunday morning when a gunman walked into the Pulse Orlando night club with more than 300 people inside. The killer, now identified Omar Matten, a 29-year-old American-born Muslim, who walked into the club and within minutes opened fire on the crowd with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, ultimately taking the life of 50 people and seriously injuring 53 others who are now all hospitalized and most listed in critical condition.
One by-stander said, “When the popping sound started many people inside the club thought it was originally apart of the show until screams could be heard and people started to run for cover or simply trying to get out. Some found themselves trapped inside of bathrooms and others next to the gunman, as they texted family members stating, their concern for their life and one text message to a mother read, “Mommy I love you. In club they shooting.” About 30 minutes later, hiding in a bathroom, he texted her:”He’s coming. I’m gonna die.”
Justice’s name would eventually be added to the list of the dead.
The killer ultimately died in a gun battle with a SWAT team after he was gunned down and after police used explosives and a small armored vehicle to punch a hole in a wall, which provided club-goers another route of escape.
Law enforcement authorities said Mateen made a 911 call from the club in which he professed allegiance to the Islamic State. FBI officials also said they had investigated Mateen in 2013 and 2014 on suspicion of terrorist sympathies but could not make a case against him.
At this point, police say they don’t know if anyone will be charged in the massacre,
So far 33 or 49 victims have been identified, as President Barack Obama is now calling the shooting an “act of terror” and an “act of hate.”
This attack is now listed as one of the worst attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11.
The previous deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. took place in during the 2007 attack at Virginia Tech, where a student killed 32 people before killing himself.
May we keep our brothers and sisters in prayer as the Orlando Community and our country try to make sense of another terror attack on U.S. soil.
Courtesy of www.thebellereport.com
