Orlando shooting updates: Obama will go to Orlando; witnesses say shooter frequented the nightclub
Forty-nine people are dead and at least 53 injured in the deadliest shooting in American history after a gunman opened fire and took hostages inside the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.
What we know:
- The gunman has been identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen, an American citizen who was born in New York.
- Dozens of victims remain hospitalized, many in critical condition .
- Mateen was killed by law enforcement after he took hostages during an hours-long siege.
- He used a legally purchased assault rifle and handgun , which he had bought in the last 12 days. He also had another “device” but it’s not clear what that was.
- Mateen lived in the area of Fort Pierce, Fla., about 120 miles south of Orlando, and worked as a private security officer .
- Investigators are operating under the theory that the attack was inspired by Islamic State .
- Mateen had been interviewed by the FBI twice and had once been on a terrorist watch list .
- President Obama called the shooting an act of terror that was an attack on all Americans.
- Follow local coverage from the Orlando Sentinel and see a timeline of how the shooting unfolded.
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