Orlando nightclub shooting

The 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting was a major incident inside Pulse, a gay bar and nightclub in Orlando, Florida. It happened on June 12, 2016.

Orlando nightclub shooting
Part of mass shootings in the United States, and violence against LGBT people in the United States
The scene of the shooting
Orlando Orlando (Florida)
Location	Pulse Nightclub 1912 S. Orange Avenue Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Coordinates	28°31′10.5″N 81°22′36.5″W
Date	June 12, 2016; 9 years ago (2016-06-12) 2:02 a.m. – 5:14 a.m. EDT (UTC−04:00)
Target	Patrons of Pulse nightclub
Attack type	Mass shooting, mass murder, hostage-taking, domestic terrorism,
Weapons	Sig Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol
Deaths	50 (including the perpetrator)
Injured	58 (53 by gunfire)[1]
Perpetrator	Omar Mateen
Motive	Islamic extremist

More than fifty people, including the shooter,^[2] were killed in the massacre. It was the deadliest attack in the U.S. since the September 11, 2001 attacks.^[3][4] Until the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that killed 60 people, the Pulse shooting was the deadliest mass shooting in American history.

The gunman was Omar Mir Seddique Mateen.^[2]

Incident

According to law enforcement officials, at an unknown time before the shooting, Mateen called the police and pledged himself to the leader of ISIS.^[5][2]

At about 2:00 a.m. EDT, Mateen fired shots inside the nightclub. He was armed with a rifle, a handgun, and a "device".^[4] Mateen then left the club briefly and exchanged gunfire with a police officer outside,^[6] before returning inside to take hostages. Pulse posted on its Facebook page at 2:09 EDT, saying "Everyone get out of Pulse and keep running".^[7]

Reactions

United States

Florida governor Rick Scott described the incident as "clearly an act of terror", and declared a state of emergency.^[6]

In a broadcast statement made at around 2:00 p.m. from the White House, President Barack Obama described the shooting as an "act of terror" and an "act of hate".^[8] He mentioned that he has directed the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate the shooting as an act of terrorism, and that the full resources of the federal government would be made available.