24 shots in 9 seconds: Orlando gunman club massacre

SNAPCHAT AUDIO CAPTURES SCREAMING HORROR AS GUNMAN FIRED 24 SHOTS IN JUST NINE SECONDS

America’s most deadly mass shooter, 29, called 911 to pledge allegiance to ISIS before shooting dead 50 in Orlando gay nightclub as his father reveals ‘he got angry when he saw men kiss’

— WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
— US citizen Omar Mateen, 29, opened fire inside Pulse gay club in Orlando in the early hours of this morning
— Mateen, from Port St. Lucie in Florida, killed at least 50 people, injured 53 and took party-goers hostage
— Police used an explosive device to distract the gunman and rescued around 30 people who had been taken hostage
— Officers engaged in gunfire with the man and an officer was shot in the head, but he was saved by his helmet
— Mateen was shot dead by officers shortly after 5am – three hours after the massacre began

A Snapchat video captured the sound of 24 gunshots being fired in just nine seconds at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub on Sunday morning.

The footage obtained by WESH 2 News shows a dark street with police cars flashing in the distance.

In the background, there is the sound of one assault rifle firing two or more shots a second, and a woman’s scream.

At the end of the video there is the sound of a gunshot from another gun.

The person filming says: ‘Oh… my god… People are getting shot dude…’

A male voice next to him says: ‘We need to get out of here.’ But they stand there stunned as the gunshots keep going.

‘This guy’s firing out shots,’ the friend adds.

The harrowing footage offers a glimpse into the horror that unfolded in Florida between 2am and 5am this morning.

The gunman who slaughtered at least 50 people inside a gay club in Orlando called 911 and swore allegiance to the leader of Islamic State shortly before the massacre, according to law enforcement officials.

Shooter Omar Mateen, 29, from Port St. Lucie in Florida, opened fire at Pulse night club in the early hours of this morning.

At least 50 people were killed and 53 others were injured in the shooting in the deadliest mass shooting in US history. A surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center said the death toll was likely to climb.

Shortly before the attack, Mateen, who was born in New York to Afghan parents, called 911 and pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, law enforcement officials told NBC News.

California congressman Adam Schiff, who serves as top Democrat on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, told CNN: ‘What I’ve heard from the Department of Homeland Security this morning is that, according to local police, he made a pledge of allegiance to ISIL (ISIS).’

He said the shooting was ‘highly indicative of an ISIL-inspired attack’.

During the attack, Mateen alsoreferenced the brothers who carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, a Massachusetts State Police spokesman said on Sunday.

‘During a conference call with federal law enforcement officials a short time ago, Massachusetts State Police and other local law enforcement authorities learned that the Orlando nightclub gunman, during his rampage, pledged allegiance to ISIS and referenced the Tsarnaev brothers,’ state police spokesman David Procopio said in an e-mail.

The Tsarnaev brothers killed three people and injured more than 260 in the April 15, 2013, attack. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died four days later during a gunbattle with police while Dzhokhar Tsaranev, now 22, has been sentenced to death for his role in the attack.

However Mateen’s father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News his son became angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami several months ago.

‘This has nothing to do with religion,’ he said. ‘We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident. We weren’t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country.’

An FBI spokesman said the mass shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism.

US citizen Mateen, who was shot dead by officers, entered the nightclub wielding an AR-15 assault rifle and a handgun.

Writing on Facebook, Pulse urged party-goers to ‘get out and keep running’ as bullets started flying at around 2am local time.

Orlando Police Chief John Mina said the suspect exchanged gunfire with an officer working at the club around 2am, then went back inside and took hostages.

There were about 320 people inside the club at the time of the shootings and about 100 people were taken hostage.

At around 5am authorities sent in a SWAT team to rescue the hostages. Nine hero officers used a ‘controlled explosion’ to distract the shooter before fatally shooting him and were able to rescue about 30 hostages who were hiding in the bathroom of the club.

During the gunfire, an officer was shot, but he was saved by his helmet.

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Pictured: US citizen Omar Mateen, 29, the suspected Islamic extremist who slaughtered at least 50 people inside a gay club in Orlando

He was a ‘known quantity’ to the FBI and was investigated twice before the mass shooting. A senior law enforcement source told the Daily Beast that Mateen was a person of interest both in 2013 and again in 2014.

An investigation was opened into the 29-year-old, but the case was closed when no evidence appeared to warrant further probing.

‘He’s a known quantity,’ the source said. ‘He’s been on the radar before.’

Manteen had a Statewide Firearms License and was trained in firearms, according to Fox News.

Assistant FBI Agent in Charge Ronald Hopper said Mateen made ‘threats in the past that he has ties to terrorist organizations’.

Congressman Schiff said in a statement: ‘This attack is so painfully reminiscent of the terrible attack at the Bataclan Theatre in Paris, and other ISIS-inspired attacks in recent years.

‘The fact that this shooting took place during Ramadan and that ISIS leadership in Raqqa has been urging attacks during this time, that the target was an LGBT night club during Pride, and – if accurate – that according to local law enforcement the shooter declared his allegiance to ISIS, indicates an ISIS-inspired act of terrorism.

‘Whether this attack was also ISIS-directed, remains to be determined.’

Police were at his apartment in Port St. Lucie this morning. Ken Mascara, Sheriff of Port St. Lucie County, told DailyMail.com: ‘We have sealed the apartment where Mateen was living. The FBI is bringing bomb diffusing equipment.’

Jon Alamo said he was inside the club, which was hosting a Latin-themed night, when a man holding a weapon entered the room he was in.

‘I heard 20, 40, 50 shots,’ Alamo said. ‘The music stopped.’

Club-goer Rob Rick said it happened just before closing time. ‘Everybody was drinking their last sip,’ he said.

He got on the ground and crawled toward a DJ booth.

A bouncer knocked down a partition between the club area and an area in the back where only workers are allowed. People inside were able to then escape through the back of the club.

Christopher Hansen said he was in the VIP lounge when he started hearing gunshots.

‘I was thinking, are you kidding me? So I just dropped down. I just said please, please, please, I want to make it out,’ he said. ‘And when I did, I saw people shot. I saw blood. You hope and pray you don’t get shot.’

He continued to hear shooting even after he emerged, where police were telling people to back away from the club. He saw injured people being tended to across the street.

Mina Justice was outside the club trying to contact her 30-year-old son Eddie, who texted her when the shooting happened and asked her to call police.

He told her he ran into a bathroom with others to hide. He then texted her: ‘He’s coming.’

She said: ‘The next text said: “He has us, and he’s in here with us”. That was the last conversation.’

POLICE ARREST MAN WITH WEAPONS WHO SAID HE WAS HEADED TO THE L.A. PRIDE PARADE

A man who told police he was in town for the Los Angeles Pride festival was found with assault rifles, ammunition and possible explosives in his car.

The discovery came on the same night the country was rocked with the worst mass shooting in its history, at a gay club in Orlando where 50 people were shot dead.

Officers confronted the man after neighbors reported that he was knocking on doors and ‘loitering in the area’, according to Santa Monica Police spokesman Saul Rodriguez.

The man, whose name has not been released, was driving a car with Indiana plates. Police searched his white Acura after he said he planned to attend the West Hollywood parade.

A car inspection revealed three rifles, a substantial amount of ammunition and 5lb of mixed tannerite, an ingredient that can be used to make a pipe bomb, according to the Los Angeles Times.

There were also clips loaded and taped together, a camouflage outfit and a security badge.

Mayor Eric Garcetti said it is believed the man is completely unrelated to the Orlando massacre. The investigation has since been taken over by the FBI.

The attack at the gay club during Pride Month, a LGBT celebration.

Puertorrican Drag Queen Kenya Michaels was due to perform at Pulse at midnight. She wrote on Twitter earlier this morning: ‘I want everyone to know I am ok please pray for my friends and family at pulse night club.’

Florida Governor Rick Scott wrote on Twitter: ‘My prayers are with the victims’ families & all those affected by the shooting in Orlando. We will devote every resource available to assist.’

President Obama furthered his gun control message today when addressing the massacre.

‘Although it’s still early in the investigation we know enough to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate,’ Obama said, making no reference to ISIS or Islamic terror in his brief remarks.

Obama called the shooting spree a reminder of how easy it is for someone to get a hold of a weapon that could kill people in a ‘school, or a house of worship, or a movie theater, or in a nightclub’.

‘And we have to decide if that’s the kind of country we want to be,’ Obama said. ‘And to actively do nothing is a decision as well,’ the president added.

The president started his remarks by addressing where things stood in the investigation.

‘We are still learning the facts. This is an open investigation. We have reached no definitive judgment on the precise motivations of the killer,’ Obama said.

‘What is clear is that he was a person filled with hate,’ Obama said.

The president said that the shooting was ‘especially heartbreaking’ for Americans in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

‘The shooter targeted a nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance and to sing, and to live,’ Obama noted.

‘The place where they were attacked was more than a nightclub, it was a place of solidarity, of empowerment, where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds and to advocate for their civil rights,’ he continued.

‘So this is a sobering reminder that attacks on any American, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, is an attack on all of us and of the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define of us a country,’ the president added.

Obama noted the historical nature of the shooting – setting a record for the nation’s worst – before making his gun control pitch.

‘The shooter was apparently armed with a handgun and a powerful assault rifle,’ Obama said.

President Obama has took to the podium in the aftermath of many shootings during his almost eight years in office.

Mark Knoller, the longtime CBS newsman who keeps track of these kinds of things, think today’s message from the president is at least Obama’s 20th time remarking on a shooting incident.

Directly beforehand, he was challenged by presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump to connect ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ to the case.

Obama didn’t once bring up the Islamic religion, instead using the more blanket term of terrorism to describe the incident.

‘Is President Obama going to finally mention the words radical Islamic terrorism? If he doesn’t he should immediately resign in disgrace!’ Trump wrote.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton wrote in both English and Spanish: ‘Woke up to hear the devastating news from FL. As we wait for more information, my thoughts are with those affected by this horrific act. -H.’

The shooting took place less than four miles away from where The Voice singer and YouTube star Christina Grimmie, 22, was shot dead by a gunman at The Plaza Live in Orlando on Friday 22.45 local time.

The man, identified as 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl, of St Petersburg, Florida was armed with two handguns, ammunition and a hunting knife.

He later killed himself and his motive was unknown.

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