Situation began shortly thereafter. The nightclub posted this message on its Facebook Page everyone get out of pulse and keep running. The hostage standoff lasted about three hours. At 5r7bd oclock 00 in the mor used a bear cat to knock down the door and enter the club. They shot and killed the gunman who has been identified by Law Enforcement sources as Omar Seddique mateen from fort pierce, florida. A Law Enforcement source says mateen worked as a private Security Guard. Police say throughout the other deal they were getting phone calls, Text Messages from terrified individuals inside the pulse nightclub but away from the gunman complicating the situation at the time peoples friends and relatives also got such messages and many of them rushed down to the othrlando nightclub. 2 70 i got a text message from my daughter and two nieces please come and get us now, theyre shooting, theyre shooting. Then at2 12 i got a phone call from my daughter saying he was hit and going to pass out and
Stormed the nightclub and killed the suspect. Now federal authorities are investigating this incident as an act of terrorism. This is a brand new hour of americas election headquarters. Im eric shawn. And im arthel neville. Right now the mayor of orlando, buddy dyer, asking Florida Governor rick scott to declare a state of emergency as this investigation picks up steam, and were just Getting Police scanner audio capturing the chaos at the scene. Lets take a listen. Orlando, we have shots fired and authorities are asking you to stand back and dont enter the scene. Sun fire, gunfire, gunfire. Position of cover. All personnel get back in a position of cover. Now we have active fire. Shots outside. This is ormc. We have the shooter currently inside ormc and we cannot take coverage. Anita vogel is live in los angeles and peter doocy is live at the scene in there in orlando. In fact, well start with peter right now. Peter, what can you tell us about the very latest information that youre get
Some connection between the gunman and the orlando mass shooting and isis. That shooting now stands as the worst, the deadliest in modern u. S. History. In washington. So many families still waiting for word f their loved ones are among the 50 People Killed or 53 others still hospitalized. Many in Critical Condition at this hour. The white house says president obama will give a statement later this afternoon in this hour. Youll see that here on fox. The gunman has been identified as 29yearold omar mateen. Investigators are now combing through every aspect of mateens life. He was killed in that gun fight with s. W. A. T. Response team on the site. Joining us now, Florida Governor rick scott. Hes declared a state of emergency for orange county. And the governor is on scene now in orlando. He joins us live. Governor, first, your thoughts on this horrific day. Well, brett, im just a few blocks away. Im at the command center from the nightclub. This is clearly an act of terror. Its sadness.
Believe that this was somewhat related to radical islam. We dont know more about what exactly that is, what evidence theyve turned up, but they pretty quickly seem to have decided that this is the avenue where theyre going to pursue this investigation. We dont know i just talked to some officials who say still at this point, they dont know whether he did this in the name of isis or some other organization or whether he just had personal animus against gay people. Thats something theyre looking into, obviously, but the fact hes dead makes this a little tougher. Theyre going to have to go through his computer, look through his online postings. Theyre going to talk to his friends and family to see if hes expressed any animus or any intent. There were no threats known to this club or to any other gay clubs either in orlando or anywhere else during this weekend. But now obviously in reaction to that, theyre going to see a lot more security at these clubs. Evan perez, thanks so much. Keep ca
Isis sympathizer but Officials Say they had no indication he was plotting to carry out an attack. We are told president obama has been fuelly briefed on the shooting. He will address the nation in about a half hour from now. We will, of course, go to the white house for live coverage of that. Meanwhile, the gunman was killed in a shootout with police and as atf agents continue to sweep the nightclub even right now for any possible explosive devices, officials just confirmed his body was found with a handgun and an automatic rifle. All the killing that was done was with an assault rifle, with a single weapon. Theres an enormous amount of havoc right now. Theres blood everywhere. I spoke to somebody on the site and theres an enormous amount of evidence to be collected systematically over the course of many hours. Officials will have another News Conference in the next hour. Well get an update on the death toll and hopefully get more information about the gunman, this terrorist and how th