Pulse nightclub shooting

"2016 Orlando shootings" redirects here. For the shooting of Christina Grimmie, see Death of Christina Grimmie.

2016 Orlando nightclub shooting
Part of terrorism in the United States
The Pulse nightclub in 2006
Location	1912 S. Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Coordinates	28°31′10.5″N 81°22′36.5″W
Date	June 12, 2016 (2016-06-12) c. 2:00 a.m. – c. 5:00 a.m. EDT (UTC−04:00)
Target	Patrons at the Pulse nightclub
Attack type	Mass shooting and hostage-taking
Weapons	SIG Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol
Deaths	50 (including the perpetrator)
Injured	53
Perpetrator	Omar Mateen

On June 12, 2016, a terrorist attack by mass shooting occurred at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. A total of 49 people were killed and 53 others were wounded inside the nightclub by a gunman before he was killed by police after a three-hour siege. The attack was the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history, the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in U.S. history, and the deadliest terrorist attack in the U.S. since the September 11 attacks of 2001.

The assailant was identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen, an American born to parents of Afghan background. During the attack, he swore allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Investigators have not formally linked him to ISIL, and cautioned that the attack may have been ISIL-inspired without being ISIL-directed. Witnesses said that Mateen was a regular patron of the nightclub, and some said that they had contact with him via gay dating apps in the past.

Attack

On June 11, 2016, Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, was hosting Latino Night, a weekly Saturday night event that is primarily patronized by Hispanic clientele. About 320 people were inside the club, which was serving last call at the time.

Law enforcement and medical assistance arriving at the scene

Arriving at the club by van, Mateen got out and approached the building, armed with a Sig-Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle and a 9mm Glock 17 handgun. An armed security guard, who was an Orlando Police Department (OPD) officer working extra duty in full uniform, engaged Mateen, returning fire at 2:02 a.m. EDT. Mateen was able to enter the building, however, and began shooting patrons. The officer was soon joined by two additional officers who also began engaging Mateen. Mateen then retreated further into the nightclub and began to take patrons hostage. About 100 officers from the OPD and the Orange County Sheriff's Office were first dispatched to the scene.

During the attack, people trapped inside the club called and messaged friends and relatives. Initially, some of them thought the gunshots were firecrackers or music. Many described a scene of panic and confusion caused by the loud music and darkness. One person hiding in a bathroom covered herself with the bodies of victims for protection. Some entertainers hid inside a dressing room when the shooting started and escaped the building by crawling out when police removed the air conditioning unit. One of the bartenders said she hid under the glass bar. Many patrons attempted to save the lives of those injured. Survivors said Mateen laughed hysterically as he shot individuals who had attempted to take refuge. At 2:09 a.m. EDT, several minutes after the gunfire started, the club posted on its Facebook page, "Everyone get out of pulse and keep running".

Police officer's helmet from the incident showing the result of being struck by a bullet.

Dozens of additional first responders—including OPD officers, Orange County sheriff's deputies, and FBI agents, as well as paramedics and firefighters from three fire departments—reported to the scene. A crisis negotiator was present, as Mateen was holed up inside and holding hostages. Officers initially believed he was armed with a "device" that posed a threat, but it was later revealed to be an exit sign or smoke detector that had fallen down. Due to the nature of the situation, officers said that they had to wait for three hours in order to have a full assessment of the incident, wait for armored vehicles, and ensure they had enough personnel.

At 2:22 a.m. EDT, Mateen made a 9-1-1 call in which he expressed sympathy for Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bombers, and made a reference to Moner Mohammad Abu Salha, an acquaintance of his who died in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2014. Mateen said he was inspired by Abu Salha's death for the Al-Nusra Front, and despite them being at war with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), claimed allegiance to the latter organization.

At 3:58 a.m. EDT, the OPD announced to the public that there was a shooting at the club, and that there were multiple injuries.

People commemorate victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting in front of the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland on June 13, 2016

Around 5:00 a.m. EDT, SWAT officers entered the building by driving an armored vehicle through a wall, then used two flash-bangs to distract Mateen. Mateen was shot and killed in the gunfight, which involved eleven officers. Five minutes later, police said that a bomb squad had set off a controlled explosion. At 5:53 a.m. EDT, they confirmed Mateen's death. Thirty hostages were freed during the police operation, and one officer received a non-lethal shot to his head and was hospitalized with eye injuries. Once the officers entered the building, they found thirty-nine people dead inside the club, and another two people dead outside.

Casualties

The shooting caused a total of 103 casualties: 49 victims and the attacker Mateen were killed, and 53 other victims were injured, some critically, with many requiring surgery at local hospitals. This made the attack the deadliest mass shooting in modern United States history; the deadliest incident of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the history of the United States (surpassing the 1973 UpStairs Lounge arson attack); and the deadliest terrorist attack in the country since the September 11 attacks of 2001.

All of the victims who were killed or injured were civilians, except a police officer, who suffered a head injury during the shooting. Most of the victims were men, with eighteen of the victims being 25 or younger. Over 90% of the victims were of Hispanic background, and half of the Hispanic victims were of Puerto Rican descent.

A total of 39 people (38 victims, along with Mateen) were pronounced dead at the scene, while eleven other victims were later pronounced dead at local hospitals. Many victims were taken to the Orlando Regional Medical Center, the primary regional trauma center, located three blocks from the nightclub; victims were also taken to two other area hospitals for treatment. The names and ages of the victims were confirmed by the City of Orlando after their next of kin were notified:

• Stanley Almodovar III, 23
• Amanda Alvear, 25
• Oscar A. Aracena-Montero, 26
• Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33
• Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21
• Martin Benitez Torres, 33
• Antonio D. Brown, 29
• Darryl R. Burt II, 29
• Jonathan A. Camuy Vega, 24
• Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28
• Simon A. Carrillo Fernandez, 31
• Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25
• Luis D. Conde, 39
• Cory J. Connell, 21
• Tevin E. Crosby, 25
• Franky J. Dejesus Velazquez, 50
• Deonka D. Drayton, 32
• Mercedez M. Flores, 26
• Juan R. Guerrero, 22
• Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22
• Paul T. Henry, 41
• Frank Hernandez, 27
• Miguel A. Honorato, 30
• Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40
• Jason B. Josaphat, 19
• Eddie J. Justice, 30
• Anthony L. Laureano Disla, 25
• Christopher A. Leinonen, 32
• Brenda L. Marquez McCool, 49
• Jean C. Mendez Perez, 35
• Akyra Monet Murray, 18
• Kimberly Morris, 37
• Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27
• Luis O. Ocasio-Capo, 20
• Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25
• Eric I. Ortiz-Rivera, 36
• Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32
• Enrique L. Rios Jr., 25
• Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24
• Christopher J. Sanfeliz, 24
• Xavier E. Serrano Rosado, 35
• Gilberto R. Silva Menendez, 25
• Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34
• Shane E. Tomlinson, 33
• Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25
• Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37
• Luis S. Vielma, 22
• Luis D. Wilson-Leon, 37
• Jerald A. Wright, 31

Perpetrator

Main article: Omar Mateen

The shooter, Omar Mateen

Omar Mateen was identified as the gunman after the shooting. He was a United States citizen born in the part of New Hyde Park, New York. His parents were Afghan, and he was a Muslim. At the time of the shooting, he lived in Fort Pierce, Florida, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Orlando. 

In 2006 and 2007, Mateen worked for seven months as a prison guard for the Florida Department of Corrections, leaving the position for an "administrative matter unrelated to misconduct". Since 2007, he was a security guard for G4S Secure Solutions, a subsidiary of London-based multinational security firm G4S plc. The company said two screenings—one conducted upon hiring and the other in 2013—had raised no red flags. He held an active firearms license and a security guard license. He passed a psychological test and had no criminal record. A former coworker described him as "unhinged and unstable" and said he "had talked often about killing people and had voiced hatred of gays, blacks, women and Jews".

In 2009, Mateen married his first wife, who left him after four months; the couple's divorce became final in July 2011. Following the nightclub attack, she said he was "obviously disturbed, deeply", was often physically abusive and used steroids.

Mateen traveled to Saudi Arabia twice, for an eight-day trip in 2011 and a ten-day trip in 2012; the Saudi Interior Ministry said that these trips were to perform umrah (pilgrimage to Mecca). Following the nightclub shooting, U.S. and Saudi investigators said that they were unsure who Mateen met with during the trips or whether they were related to radicalization.

Mateen became a person of interest to the FBI in May 2013 and July 2014. The 2013 investigation was opened after he made "inflammatory" comments to coworkers about having family connections to al-Qaeda and being a member of Hezbollah. The 2014 investigation was opened after he was linked to Moner Mohammad Abu Salha, an American radical who traveled to Syria and committed a suicide bombing there. He was interviewed three times in connection with the investigations, which were both closed after producing nothing that appeared to warrant further investigation.

Mateen's father, Seddique Mir Mateen, said he had seen his son get angry after witnessing a gay couple kiss in front of his family at the Bayside Marketplace in Miami months prior to the attack, which he suggested might have been a motivating factor.

NBC News reported that Mateen's wife "drove him once to the Pulse nightclub" to case it. The Orlando Sentinel reported that at least four regular customers at the nightclub had seen Mateen visit the nightclub on at least a dozen occasions. Sometimes he would drink in a corner by himself, "and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent". According to a witness who recognized him outside the club an hour before the shootings (and later turned over his own phone for FBI analysis), Mateen had messaged him using a gay dating app called "Jack'd" for about a year before the attack. Another witness said Mateen used the Grindr app and Adam4Adam for online communication with gay men, and had posted pictures of himself on both sites.

One of his police academy classmates (unnamed by the media) said Mateen had asked him out romantically around 2006, that they had spent time at gay bars together after class, and that he believed Mateen was gay. He also described him as "socially awkward" and disliked by classmates.

According to U.S. investigators, in searching for a target, Mateen had scouted Walt Disney World, which is in the Orlando area.

Mateen legally purchased the two firearms used in the attack from a gun shop in Port St. Lucie two weeks before the shooting.

Aftermath

Many people lined up to donate blood at local blood donation centers and bloodmobile locations after OneBlood urged people to donate. The LGBT Community Center of Central Florida provided grief counseling for survivors. Police tactics experts expressed misgivings about the three-hour delay in breaching the nightclub, citing lessons learned from other mass shootings in which officers had to enter a shooting location, even at great risk to themselves, to quickly neutralize a threat.

Investigation

President Barack Obama receives an update in the Oval Office from FBI Director James Comey and Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco on the mass shooting

Orlando Police Chief John Mina said a handgun and a SIG Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle, along with additional rounds, were recovered from Mateen's body. Mina called the shooting an act of "lone wolf" domestic terrorism. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said, "This is an incident, as I see it, that we certainly classify as domestic terror incident". When asked about Islam, FBI agent Ronald Hopper replied, "We do have suggestions that that individual might have leanings towards that particular ideology. But right now we can't say definitively, so we’re still running everything around." Mina said Mateen was organized, well prepared, and not from the local area. The FBI set up a hotline for callers with information on the shooting.

A Telegram channel, Online Dawah Operations, believed to be run by ISIL sympathizers, gloated of the attack soon after, while ISIL remained silent about it. Some news outlets reported ISIL claimed responsibility for the shooting. These reports were based on the Amaq News Agency, an online presence reportedly affiliated with ISIL, writing, "Source to Amaq Agency: The attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando, Florida and that left more than 100 dead or wounded was carried out by an Islamic State fighter".

A June 13 broadcast from the ISIL radio station al-Bayan said that Mateen was a "soldier of the caliphate" but did not indicate that the group had any foreknowledge of the shooting. Yoram Schweitzer of the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies posited that Mateen associated the attack with ISIL to add notoriety, and said that it was very unlikely that ISIL had known of Matten before the attack.

On June 13, FBI Director James Comey told reporters, "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." He said the U.S. Intelligence Community was "highly confident that this killer was radicalized at least in part through the Internet" and that the investigation had found "strong indications of radicalization by this killer and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations". U.S. officials said ISIL may have inspired Mateen without training, instructing, or having a direct connection with him; a number of past terrorist attacks, including the attack in San Bernardino the previous year, have been committed by "self-radicalized" assailants. Officials and terrorism experts have noted that ISIL has frequently claimed responsibility for attacks perpetrated by the self-radicalized ("lone wolf") individuals who have sworn allegiance to it, despite the lack of any direct tie. Investigators have said that no evidence linking Mateen to the group has emerged, and have cautioned that the attack may have been ISIL-inspired without being ISIL-directed.

Following the shooting, officers from multiple federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies (including the FBI, ATF, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office and Fort Pierce Police Department) converged on Mateen's home in Fort Pierce and another home in Port St. Lucie. A bomb squad was present at Mateen's home to check for explosives.

The shooting has been described as an example of soft target terrorism, which targets civilian locations with minimal security.

Reactions

Main article: Reactions to the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting

File:Eiffel Tower LGBT.jpg

The Eiffel Tower illuminated in the colors of the LGBT flag

Facebook activated its "Safety Check" feature in the Orlando area following the attack, allowing users to mark themselves as "safe" to notify family and friends—the first use of the feature in the United States.

Following the shooting, businesses in the U.S. such as shopping malls, movie theaters, and concert halls reexamined their security procedures; and gay pride festival organizers made plans to increase the police presence at Pride Month and other events.

The American Muslim community swiftly condemned the attack. Prayer vigils for the victims were held at mosques across the country. The Florida mosque where Mateen sometimes worshiped issued a statement condemning the attack and offering condolences to the victims. The Council on American–Islamic Relations called the attack "monstrous" and offered its condolences to the victims, saying, "The Muslim community joins our fellow Americans in repudiating anyone or any group that would claim to justify or excuse such an appalling act of violence." CAIR Florida urged Muslims to donate blood and contribute funds in support of the victims' families.

Many people on social media and elsewhere, including U.S. presidential candidates, members of Congress, other political figures, foreign leaders, and various celebrities, expressed their shock at the event and extended their condolences to those affected. Vigils were held, or are being planned, in various cities and countries around the world to mourn those who were killed in the shooting.

Equality Florida, the state's largest LGBT rights group, started a fundraising page to aid the victims and their families, raising $767,000 in the first nine hours. By June 14, it had raised more than $3 million, a record for GoFundMe, and continued to increase quickly.

The 70th Tony Awards ceremony, held the evening of the attack, was dedicated to the victims of the shooting, to whom host James Corden paid tribute in his opening monologue. Lin-Manuel Miranda recited a sonnet which he composed in honor of the dead upon accepting the Tony Award for Best Original Score for Hamilton.

Seddique released a Dari-language video statement via Facebook on June 13, speaking about his son's actions.

Political responses

Florida Governor Rick Scott released a statement of support for all affected, and noted that the state emergency operations center is monitoring the incident. Scott declared a state of emergency for Orange County, Florida, and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer declared a state of emergency for the city.

President Obama's June 12, 2016, statement on the shooting

The Obama administration released a statement sending its condolences to the victims. President Barack Obama directed the federal government to provide any assistance necessary to "pursue the investigation and support the community". In a speech, he described the attack as an "act of hate" and "act of terror". He also issued a proclamation ordering U.S. flags around the country to be lowered to half-staff. On June 13, the White House announced that he will travel to Orlando on June 16 to pay his respects to the victims' families.

In the days following the attack, Americans had an array of opinions about its motive and meaning. The New York Times reported, "While gun violence often cleaves people into predictable, politically identifiable camps, and terrorist attacks tend to unite countries in grief and resolve, Orlando has so far defied easy categorizations and conclusions". U.S. politicians from both parties voiced grief for the victims, but the specific language used generally differed by political party, illustrating a political divide. Some legislators called for gun control measures following the shooting, although legislative action was viewed as unlikely.

While U.S. politicians of both parties "consistently shared themes of mourning and prayer", Democrats generally referred to the attack as a mass shooting, while Republicans avoided this phrase; members of both parties referred to the event as a terrorist attack, but many Democrats added that it was also an "act of hate". Many Democrats specifically mentioned that the attack targeted the LGBT community, with President Obama stating that Pulse was "more than a nightclub — it is a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights." Republicans "generally avoided mentioning" the LGBT community, although some, including presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida did address the LGBT community specifically.

In speeches following the attack, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton vowed to fight "radical jihadists" and called for unity. Clinton also called for stricter gun laws, such as a reinstated assault weapons ban and a ban on the purchase of guns by those on terrorist watch lists. In addition, Clinton condemned "inflammatory, anti-Muslim rhetoric" and emphasized the importance of relations between the American Muslim community and law enforcement agencies. Clinton called on Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and other countries to stop funding radical Islamic institutions and to stop their citizens from funding extremist groups.

In his speech following the shooting, Donald Trump labeled the attack "an assault on the ability of free people to live their lives, love who they want, and express their identity" and demanded the resignation of President Obama from office. He also reiterated proposals that he had made previously for a ban on Muslim immigration to the U.S., and called for an expansion of this policy to "suspend immigration from areas of the world where there's a proven history of terrorism against the United States". Without distinguishing between mainstream Muslims and terrorists, Trump accused Muslim immigrants of posing a danger to U.S. security and American Muslims of being complicit in terrorist acts, saying that they had failed to "turn in the people who they know are bad", although he presented no evidence in support of this claim. Trump opposed calls for gun control measures, arguing that the attack would have been prevented if more guns had been present in the nightclub.

See also

• LGBT in Islam
• List of terrorist incidents, January–June 2016
• Terrorism in the United States
• UpStairs Lounge arson attack
• Violence against LGBT people

External links

• List of confirmed victims (live updates)