Terrorism brutalized Florida early Sunday morning in the nation’s worst mass shooting, leaving 50 people dead and dozens more injured.
The horrific shooting by a lone gunman around 2 a.m. at the Pulse gay nightclub in Downtown Orlando — declared “an act of terror and an act of hate” by President Barack Obama — prompted Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency in Orange County.
Authorities identified the killer as Omar Mateen, 29, who was killed in a shootout with police after he held some club-goers hostage for about three hours. Mateen purchased two guns, including an assault rifle, within the past week, according to federal officials.
Mateen worked for G4S, a global security company with offices in Jupiter, since 2007, the company confirmed in a statement.
Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson joined local and federal officials in Orlando after the shooting.
The investigation has been taken over by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI Special Agent in Charge Ron Hopper told reporters at a press conference Sunday afternoon. Hopper also said that no other suspects are linked to the shooting.
Mateen had been questioned by the FBI in 2013 for “inflammatory comments” made to coworkers and again in 2014 regarding a suicide bomber, but he was not currently under investigation or surveillance, Hopper said.
In a telephone call with 911 operators around the time of the attack, Mateen — who was reportedly on a terror watch list — allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorism group, according to authorities.
After the attack, federal, state and local law enforcement were at a home in Fort Pierce where Mateen lived.
Elected officials and political candidates quickly issued statements or took to social media to condemn the massacre at the nightclub, a popular meeting place among the region’s close-knit LGBT community.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer set up a website and hotline for families and friends, many of whom were unable to locate their loved ones late Sunday afternoon.
“This is probably the most difficult day in the history of Orlando,” Dyer told reporters at the afternoon press conference. “We need to support each other. We need to love each other. And we will not be defined by a hateful shooter. We will be defined by how we support and love each other.”
The governor asked the nation to join in moment of silence at 6 p.m. Sunday to “mourn the loss of life and also pray for those that are still fighting for their life.”
Sunday’s attack “could happen anywhere in the world,” Rubio said.
“Unfortunately, today was Orlando’s turn,” he said. “We know that there’s hate in the world. We know that some of it is inspired by warped ideology.
“I hope they see today they won’t terrorize America. They won’t terrorize Floridians. We stand with all Americans … irrespective of their sexual orientation,” the Republican senator said.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Obama called the “horrific massacre” an “especially heartbreaking day for all of our friends — our fellow Americans — who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.” June is LGBT Pride Month.
Many gay activists turned their grief into action by organizing blood drives, counseling and efforts to raise money for victims and their families. A number of vigils were planned across Florida on Sunday and Monday.
“We are heartbroken and angry that senseless violence has once again destroyed lives in our state and in our country,” Equality Florida said in a statement.
Gay clubs “were often the only safe gathering place and this horrific act strikes directly at our sense of safety,” the statement said.
Bondi also pledged support for the LGBT community, calling it a “horrible, horrible time” in Florida.
But Obama and others, including Florida Democratic Congressman Ted Deutch, also used the massacre, which left 53 people hospitalized, to press for stricter gun laws.
The president — who has seen 15 mass shootings since he took office in 2008 — noted Sunday’s tragedy was the deadliest shooting in the nation’s history.
“The shooter was apparently armed with a handgun and a powerful assault rifle. This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or a movie theater, or in a nightclub,” he said.
And we have to decide if that’s the kind of country we want to be. And to actively do nothing is a decision as well,” Obama added.
Deutch said that “thoughts and prayers alone are not a sufficient response” to the situation, and demanded lawmakers address the gun issue when Congress reconvenes today after a break.