42 others wounded; gunman dead following hours-long standoff with police
A terrorist opened fire inside a popular Orlando gay club near closing time early Sunday leaving "approximately" 20 people dead and 42 others wounded, according to authorities.
The 2 a.m. attack was “well organized and well prepared," said local cops as FBI officials painted the attack as domestic terror. The shooter, who was not from the Orlando area, may have had “leanings” toward radical Islam, Special Agent Danny Banks revealed.
Cops found the lone gunman and multiple victims dead inside the Pulse nightclub about four hours after the closing time bloodbath that sparked a tense standoff with police.
Police bombarded the club with a “controlled explosion” to distract the shooter and rescue about 30 hostages hiding in bathrooms. Nine officers fatally shot at the suspect armed with an assault-type rifle, a handgun and "some type of device.”
‘The Voice’ star Christina Grimmie, 22, shot dead after concert
A bullet struck an officer’s Kevlar helmet that police Chief John Mina cited for saving the cop’s life during the gun battle.
An officer working at the nightclub was first to confront the unidentified shooter outside the club as about 320 people partied inside. The attacker moved his assault indoors, opened fire and took hostages as terrified club goers fled.
Witnesses described a frantic scene outside the venue as first responders loaded the wounded into as many vehicles as possible after the killer opened fire.
“We were just leaving the club and we started hearing the shots,” clubber Anthony Torres told the Daily News. “Everyone was running and screaming.”
Jon Alamo was in the back of the club when he saw the shooter entered and began firing.
I heard 20, 40, 50 shots,” Alamo said. “The music stopped.”
Christopher Hansen was in the VIP area when the tragedy began to unfold.
“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.”
The chaos continued as a barrage of gunshots were heard erupting at the nightclub after police detonated a "controlled explosion."
Police later confirmed the shooter was dead just before 6 a.m. and said the incident was a “mass casualty situation.”
Frantic parents descended upon the hospital and club in the middle of the night desperately looking for their loved ones in the shooting aftermath.
Mina Justice said her 30-year-old son, Eddie, texted her and wrote: "He's coming."
“The next text said: ‘He has us, and he’s in here with us,”’ she said. “That was the last conversation.”
A visibly shaken WKMG-TV reporter outside Orlando Regional Medical Center saw cops rush the wounded officer to the emergency room entrance and several injured in the back of a truck.
Another mother desperately looking for her son stood outside the hospital in tears hoping to find him.
“I don’t know where my son is,” cried a mother outside the hospital. “He’s my only child. He’s 32. He’s a good kid ... I just happened to get up to go the bathroom at 3 a.m. and I saw a note from his friends.”
Another witness Brett Moots said about two miles of Orange Ave. was locked down by about 60 cop cars.
Moots, who lives across the street from the club, said he saw police officers putting wounded clubbers into trucks and ambulances.
“We saw people being taken away with bullet wounds on their arms and abdomen,” Moots told The News.
A person with access to a Facebook page for Pulse issued an urgent message warning anyone listening to “get out of Pulse and keep running.”
An apparent video from outside the nightclub shows cops surrounding the establishment as gunshots ring out, but it’s unclear if the shots were fired by the shooter or police.
The carnage inside the club follows the murder of “The Voice” contestant Christina Grimmie, who was shot to death during a meet-and-greet after her Orlando concert Friday. Pulse is approximately 4 miles from The Plaza Live theater where Grimmie was slain, but authorities said the two incidents are not related.
