‘Terror’ Attack At Orlando Gay Nightclub Leaves 20 Dead, 42 Wounded

A mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that police are calling a “domestic terror incident” has left approximately 20 people dead and at least 42 injured.

Authorities say a gunman stormed the downtown Pulse nightclub around 2 a.m. Sunday before opening fire and taking dozens of people hostage.

“Our SWAT officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect. The suspect is dead,” Orlando Police Chief John Mina said at a press conference.

“He appeared to be carrying a rifle, an assault-type rifle and a handgun and had some type of device on him.” 

The suspect has only been identified as someone who was “not from this area” and “was organized and well-prepared,” the FBI said, according to ABC News.

FBI agent Ron Hopper said the suspect may have leanings toward extreme Islamic ideologies, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Around 5 a.m., authorities made the decision to rescue the hostages, leading to gunfire exchange that ended in the suspect’s death, Mina said.

Police said they had carried out a “controlled explosion” at the club hours after the shooting broke out, but did not say why that was done. They described the scene as a “fluid situation.”

Video posted online showed a large number of police and emergency vehicles outside the nightclub. Bomb-sniffing dogs were also on the scene, CNN reported.

It was the second deadly shooting at an Orlando night spot in as many nights. Late Friday, a man thought to be a troubled fan fatally shot Christina Grimmie, a rising singing star and a former contestant on “The Voice,” while she was signing autographs after a concert in the Florida city. 

There was an outpouring of support from the community as they took in the morning’s horrors.

Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida, which advocates gay and lesbian rights statewide, said they are holding off judgement until more information is released.

“We have received a steady stream of emails and messages from those seeking to help or to make sense of the senseless. We make no assumptions on motive. We will await the details in tears of sadness and anger. We stand in solidarity and keep our thoughts on all whose lives have been lost or altered forever in this tragedy,” she said in a statement.