Around 20 people have been shot and another 42 transported to the hospital for various injuries in the early hours of Sunday morning after a gunman started a sporadic gun shooting at a Gay Nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
The gunman had what looked like an explosive device around him, and police are sweeping the club for any explosives, and the exact number of body count is not final until the whole environment is deemed free of explosives.
According to law enforcement, the shooting had an "extensive planning" and they are currently "investigating an act of terror," an act of possible "Radical Islamic terrorism".
Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, Ron Hopper, via phone said that the shooter in the past said he had ties with terrorism, but the officials are saying there is no further danger to the public in regards of this shooting.
Officers have now named the gunman as Omar Mateen, a U.S. citizen from Port St. Lucie. He was born to Afghan parents in 1986.
When Mateen came into the club, around 320 people were in the club, and he took party-goers as hostage. During rescue operations, around 30 people were rescued, and the shooter was killed just around 6am.
According to Kenneth Melendez who was at the club during the shootout, he said;
It’s just something that you see in the movies but never think would happen to you,” he said. “At first, when I heard the shots I thought it was part of the music, but then we realized it was really happening. I started running and saw someone bleeding from the arm and I was like wow this is really happening and I kept running.
He said four of his friends were shot and are currently at the Orlando Regional Medical Center.