Worst Mass Shooting in U.S. History in Orlando Nightclub

Source: Gerardo Mora / Getty

A horrifying event in a Florida nightclub has claimed at least fifty lives in the worst mass shooting in United States history.

Early Sunday morning 50 people were killed and 53 injured in Orlando after a gunman stormed into a packed nightclub, according to officials.

The gunman was killed by a SWAT team after taking hostages at Pulse, a popular LGBT club, investigators said at an early morning news conference. He has been preliminary identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen, a U.S. law enforcement official said.

A federal investigator in Florida told reporters earlier Sunday that the gunman may have been attracted to radical Islam.

The “lone wolf” gunman was armed with an assault rifle, a handgun and an unspecified “device,” said officials, who did not elaborate on why they suspected he may have been a radical Islamist.

“It appears he was organized and well-prepared,” Orlando Police Chief John Mina said, adding that the gunman was not from the Orlando area.

More updates to come as this story develops.