WASHINGTON: Fifty people were killed and 53 injured at a Florida gay nightclub by a homophobic ISIS sympathiser in the early hours of Sunday, in what became the deadliest mass attack in the United States. Omar Mateen, 29, was armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle and a pistol when he started spraying bullets at around 350 people inside the Pulse dance hall.
Mateen walked into the nightclub, which was packed to the rafters that night, and opened fire killing anyone in sight. He was engaged by an armed security guard, an Orlando Police Department officer working extra duty in full uniform, but still made into the building and began to shoot patrons. The officer was joined by two additional officers all who retaliated to Mateen's attack. However, he just retreated further and took people hostage. By then 100 officers from the OPD and the Orange County Sheriff's Office arrived for help.
Witnesses said the attacker laughed as he shot people attempting to save their own lives. Backup was called upon by then and the man was shot dead after a three-hour siege. It was brought to attention after the situation was under control, that Omar Mateen had called up 911 during his rampage and pledged his alliance to the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. As the shooting was unfolding, Mateen "made calls to 911 this morning in which he stated his allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State," said Ronald Hopper, FBI's assistant special agent. Mateen also called the Boston bombers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev his "homeboys" during the call.
Officials revealed the assaulter had been "on the radar" of federal authorities. Mateen was born in the United States, but his parents are from Afghanistan. His father Mer Siddique gave a press interview instigating further outrage saying his son's action had "nothing to do with religion" and may have been sparked by seeing gay men kissing. He also condemned the act saying his son should not have killed the gay men as they would be punished by God himself. "I apologise to families who lost their loved ones. What my son did is against humanity." The shooter's ex-wife also said he was "mentally unstable" and regularly beat her.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said the homophobic attacker made comments favorable to multiple armed Islamist movements and people, which "adds a little bit to the confusion about his motives." "So far, we see no indication that this was a plot directed from outside the United States and we see no indication that he was part of any kind of network. We're highly confident this killer was radicalised at least in some part through the internet."
President Barack Obama issued a statement calling the attack "an act of hate" and an "act of terror". He also ordered the US flags to be lowered at half-staff in honour of all the victims.
