It was not immediately clear how many people were inside the club when the shooting began.Īnother clubber called Christopher Hanson told CNN he heard "loud banging noises, like gunshots going off." "There was a brief pause in the shooting and some of us just got up and ran out the back. People have definitely been injured - or worse." He described hearing "non-stop firing" which probably lasted less than a minute but felt like a lot longer. I guess the shooter was shooting at the ceiling because you could see all the glass from the lamps falling," he told the network. "At around 200 am someone started shooting. Speaking to Sky News, clubber Ricardo Negron, who was inside when the shooting began, described how the gunman raked the club with bullets.
He was found to be armed with armed with two handguns, ammunition and a hunting knife, police said. The police confirmed that there was no link between the Orlando club shooting and Grimmie's murder. The gunman, 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl, then killed himself. She was rushed to hospital but died of her wounds.
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The incident came just two days after a deadly shooting at the nearby Plaza Live Theater in which a heavily-armed gunman shot and critically wounded singer Christina Grimmie, a former contestant on the popular TV talent show The Voice. Pulse Orlando's earlier posted a note to its own Facebook page that said: "Everyone get out of pulse and keep running." Video posted online showed a large response by police and emergency vehicles outside the nightclub. Several patrons have also posted on social media that a gunman was holding hostages. Multiple emergency vehicles have reportedly responded. The incident began at around 2 am (0600 GMT) at the Pulse nightclub in downtown Orlando, with witnesses speaking of a gunman opening fire with an automatic weapon. The nightclub urged patrons in a post on its Facebook page to "get out" and "keep running." Local media reported that from seven to as many as 20 people had been shot in the incident, but had no further details. The helmet saved the officer's life, Banks added. One officer reportedly suffered an eye injury when a bullet struck his Kevlar helmet, said Danny Banks.
Several coroner vans were seen traveling towards the nightclub. Police had said previously that the shooting was a "mass casualty situation." It added that OPD first responders and SWAT rescued at least 30 people from inside the club and brought them out alive.ĬNN reported that a canine unit indicated there were explosives inside the suspect's car as well and at least nine officers were involved in the shootout, according to Mina. Orlando Police Chief John Mina did not immediately provide an exact number of how many people were killed. In response to the incident, Facebook turned on its 'Safety Check' tool, allowing people in Orlando to mark themselves safe and friends and family can be notified Senator Bernie Sanders, who was on Meet The Press, said that the incident was "horrific" and "unthinkable", tweeted NBC News PR. Pete Williams of NBC, wrote The Guardian, reported that the gunman Omar Mateen called 911 and pledged his support to IS before the shooting incident. President Obama will make a speech at 1.30 ET (11pm IST), from the Brady Room of the White House. It added that Vice-President Joe Biden released a statement, who offered his prayers for all those killed and injured in the shooting. Meanwhile, a report by The Guardian quoted Florida Senator Bill Nelson as saying that there appeared to be a connection to radicalism, (as opposed to Islamic State, which was previously reported by the website) according to information given by intelligence officials. The FBI has confirmed that there were no other immediate threats. "I think we will see the death toll rise," said Dr Mike Cheatham, a trauma surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Previously, it was reported that at least 20 were killed and 42 people injured at the gay nightclub. The shooting began early on Sunday, with Orlando police reporting "multiple injuries".Īt a press conference earlier in the day, the Orlando Police said that the 42 injured have been rushed to many hospitals.