Fifty people have been killed, including the assailant, and at least 53 injured in an attack inside a gay nightclub in the US state of Florida, authorities said, in the worst mass shooting in US history.
Authorities identified the shooter on Sunday as Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man born in New York with Afghan origins.
Mateen, who was armed with an assault-type rifle and a handgun, was killed in a shootout with at least 11 police officers inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
Ron Hopper, special FBI agent in charge of the Orlando office, confirmed that Mateen was interviewed twice by the agency in 2013, after he made "inflammatory comments" to co-workers alleging possible "terrorist ties".
In a televised statement, President Barack Obama condemned the shooting as "an act of terror and an act of hate", calling the shooter "a person filled with hatred".
"As Americans, we are united in grief and outrage," he said, adding that the attack is "a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon" and commit violence in the US.
Orlando Police chief John Mina described the shooting as "one of the worst tragedies we have seen", adding that police officers "were shaken by what they have seen inside the club".
"It's a tragedy not only for the city but the entire nation," he said. "Just a look into the eyes of our officers told the whole story."
Source: Aljazeera
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