Washington – United States authorities are trying to determine if the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, was a terrorist act or hate crime.
Fifty people were killed and 53 others wounded early on Sunday in the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer told a news conference.
"Today we're dealing with something that we never imagined and is unimaginable," Dyer said.
The gunman, identified as Omar Mateen of Port St. Lucie, Florida, was found dead inside the Pulse nightclub after a shootout with the police, according to Orlando Police Chief John Mina.
The shooting began around 2:00 a.m. local time (0600 GMT) inside the club and there was a confrontation between the suspect and an officer working at the club outside the venue, according to local police.
Then the suspect went back into the club to continue shooting and took hostages.
About three hours after the shooting first broke out, police shot and killed the suspect during actions to rescue the hostages, said Mina.
"It appeared he was organized and well-prepared," said Mina at an earlier press conference, adding that the suspect had an assault-type weapon and a handgun.
Danny Banks, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said that the shooting, the deadliest in a single shooting in the U.S. history, was being investigated as an act of terrorism.
"Do we consider this an act of terrorism? Absolutely, we are investigating this from all parties' perspective as an act of terrorism," said Banks.
Ronald Hopper, an assistant FBI agent in charge, said the authorities now had "suggestions that the individual may have leanings toward" ideology held by the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.
But he added that "right now we can't say definitively".
Reports said the parents of Mateen, a 29-year-old U.S.-born citizen, were from Afghanistan.
ABC News quoted U.S. law enforcement officials as saying that Mateen was "on the radar" of U.S. officials for some time, but he was not the target of a specific investigation.
U.S. President Barack Obama was briefed by his homeland security and counterterrorism advisor Lisa Monaco on the tragic shooting, the White House said in a statement.
Obama asked for regular updates on the investigation, while directing that the federal government provide any assistance necessary to pursue the investigation and support the community. – SAnews.gov.za-Xinhua
