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Via ABC.

Omar Mateen, a U.S.-born citizen, has been identified as the suspect in Sunday’s mass shooting that left at least 20 dead and 42 wounded at Pulse Nightclub, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Mateen’s parents were born in Afghanistan, and he was “on the radar” of U.S. officials for some time, but was not the target of a specific investigation, law enforcement officials told ABC News.

A police officer working at the club responded to shots fired at 2:02 a.m., and then exchanged fire with Mateen, according to police.

The scene inside of Pulse soon transformed into “a hostage situation,” when he took hostages, officials said. He was armed with an assault rifle, handgun and “some kind of device on him,” according to officials.

At approximately 5 a.m., the SWAT team made the decision to rescue the hostages, officials said.

Mateen was killed in a gunfight with those officers early this morning, officials said.

Jerusalem Post: Orlando shooter named Omar Saddiqui Mateen, had leanings to Islamism


LA Times.

50 people are dead and at least 53 injured after a gunman took hostages overnight inside Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, the city’s mayor Buddy Dyer said.

The gunman has been identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen, a U.S. law enforcement official said.

He was killed by law enforcement. He had an assault rifle, handgun and another “device.”

Mateen lived in Fort Pierce, Fla., the law enforcement official said. Fort Pierce is about 120 miles south of Orlando on the state’s Atlantic coast.

The FBI says they cannot rule this out as an act of domestic terrorism.

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