Link (http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-nightclub-shooting/)

Orlando, Florida (CNN) Approximately 20 people are dead inside Pulse, a gay nightclub, Orlando Police Chief John Mina said Sunday morning, just hours after a shooter opened fire in the club. At least 42 people have been transported for medical treatment, he said.

Police have shot and killed the gunman, Mina told reporters.
"It's appears he was organized and well-prepared," the chief said, adding that the shooter had an assault-type weapon, a handgun and "some type of (other) device on him."
At least nine officers were involved in the shootout, Mina said. Several coroner vans were seen traveling toward the nightclub.
One officer suffered an eye injury when a bullet struck his Kevlar helmet, said Danny Banks, special agent in charge of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Orlando bureau. The helmet saved the officer's life, Banks said.
The shooter is not from the Orlando area, Mina said.
Orlando authorities said they consider the violence an act of domestic terror. The FBI is involved. While investigators are exploring all angles, they "have suggestions the individual has leanings towards (Islamic terrorism), but right now we can't say definitely," said Ron Hopper, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Orlando bureau.

Shooting, hostage situation

The shooting began around 2 a.m., and an officer who was working at the club responded, Mina said. The officer engaged in a shootout outside the club, after which the gunman ran into the club.
"That turned into a hostage situation," Mina said.
Authorities were getting calls from people inside the club but away from the gunman, the chief said.
More police rushed to the scene and broke down a door with an armored vehicle, helping some 30 club-goers flee to safety, Mina said. At that point police shot and killed the gunman, he said.
CNN affiliate WKMG video captured clubgoers carrying injured people from the club.
"It's just shocking," said Christopher Hansen who was inside Pulse. He heard gunshots, "just one after another after another. It could have lasted a whole song," he said.
"Everyone get out of Pulse and keep running," the nightclub posted on its Facebook page shortly after the violence began.
Orlando police warned residents to stay away from the area, and urged people not to call their offices. They declined to provide the number of casualties, saying details will be available later. Bomb sniffing dogs are on the scene.

'Just bang, bang, bang!'

Pulse describes itself as "the hottest gay bar" in the heart of Orlando. Hours before the shooting, the club urged party-goers to attend its "Latin flavor" event Saturday night.
Jovial, well-dressed crowds heeded the call in an event that turned into a nightmare.
"It was just, bang, bang, bang!" party-goer Hansen said of the gunfire.
Ricardo Negron Almodovar said he was in the club when the shooting started about 2 a.m. He barely escaped.
"People on the dance floor and bar got down on the floor and some of us who were near the bar and back exit managed to go out through the outdoor area and just ran," he posted on the club's Facebook page.
"I am safely home and hoping everyone gets home safely as well."
Anthony Torres, who was at the club with friends, said he heard shots as he hurriedly drove off.
"The shots did not sound like a regular handgun. It sounded like it was shooting repetitively and it wouldn't stop," he said.
"So we knew what it was and we left there pretty quick. It was over 70 cop cars that were arriving there ... It happened so quick that people got separated from each other."
Tearful relatives waited outside the club as lights from police cars flashed in the background. Some implored the media to help them get word on their loved ones.

'Just a lot of people screaming'

The sound of gunshots echoed beyond the club.
Jose Torres was clocking in to work at a Dunkin' Donuts across the street when he heard them.
"It was something that I never heard before," Torres said. "I had to run inside the store, and I saw just a lot of people screaming, crying. Just screaming and coming out running like crazy."
Torres said he ducked into the Dunkin' Donuts and called 911 as several people dashed out of the club, bleeding. Police and SWAT teams rushed to the scene.
"They don't let nobody in or out," he said. "The SWAT team is inside there."
FBI agents were also assisting at the scene, agency spokeswoman Amy Pittman said.
Authorities have conducted a controlled explosion near the nightclub, according to Orlando police.
Tom Fuentes, a CNN law enforcement analyst, said controlled explosions are used to breach a door or when a subject is barricaded in a room and police want to use a stun grenade to temporarily freeze their central nervous system.

Hospitals on lockdown

Authorities urged caution as police officers hovered nearby with weapons and dogs.
A few miles away, the Orlando Regional Medical Center was placed on lockdown, the hospital said in a statement. Only essential workers are being allowed access into the building.
Relatives looking for loved ones were instructed to go to the medical center's north tower with identification. Hospital staff will escort family members with IDs to a family meeting area.
Arnold Palmer Hospital and Winnie Palmer Hospital were also placed on lockdown out of an abundance of caution, officials said.
The mass shooting occurred only a few miles from Orlando's Plaza Live theater where 22-year-old singer Christina Grimmie, who had appeared on NBC's "The Voice," was gunned down Friday night.

One of the reporters said in 1927, a shooter killed 45 people which was the highest killings by guns. This shootings are so sad and I feel the pain of everyone involved.

It's heartbreaking. I woke up very early this morning and heard about this, and that the death toll was 20. Fell back asleep, woke up and the toll was 50. Those poor souls and their families. I can't even imagine how they feel. God bless them all.

Thoughts, condolences and prayers to the victims and there families. This is sick and sad. When is it all going to end?

Just Senseless.

My thoughts and support are with the LGBT community.


http://i1331.photobucket.com/albums/w594/JamesGrec3/10621a44-b907-448f-98ce-c8be67d41870_zpsdjeuc1ra.jpg

Thoughts, condolences and prayers to the victims and there families. This is sick and sad. When is it all going to end?Hopefully soon :(

I don't even know what to say about this. Just disgusting, horrific, incomprehensible.

Unfortunately, it's not going to end when we keep doing absolutely nothing about it.

This is a VERY tragic moment...

R.I.P. to all.

While this was a very deadly mass shooting, it is not the largest like the news outlets are saying.

THIS was the largest mass shooting in America.

https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13435572_1224953324195940_3063329100896435342_n.jpg?oh=3913a7952b5f07876a41e15fefa1812c&oe=57FEEFF7

My thoughts & prayers go out to their families & friends.

I don't know quite what to say, but I am thinking of you guys in the US.
I'm also another person who first saw 20 dead (which of course is a lot), and then just a few hours later saw 50.

I also don't want to start anything, but I do notice that these shootings have become more frequent in the last few years. Of course, I'm not saying they didn't happen before but not with this frequency.
It's because they are happening so frequently is why I think a lot of people are becoming immune to this type of news. That is why these type of threads don't get as much responses anymore. The difference this time was the number.

So tragic. Prayers go out to those who lost their lives, their families and friends. I also feel for those who had to witness the mass shooting. Things like that can traumatize people.

I don't even know what to say about this. Just disgusting, horrific, incomprehensible.

Unfortunately, it's not going to end when we keep doing absolutely nothing about it.


Totally agree! This is happening WAY too much now! :mad: :(

Prayers to the victims, their families and friends!

Anderson Cooper sounded like he was on the verge of tears when he was naming all of the victims last night. Don Lemon also seemed very choked up. This is all so sad, senseless and tragic.

Chick-Fil-A actually worked last Sunday in Orlando...

I feel this is a VERY moving story...

Orlando Chick fil A workers reverse Sunday hours policy to feed volunteers
Hadley Malcolm, USA TODAY 10:08 a.m. EDT June 15, 2016

The restaurant is usually closed on Sundays, but employees at one Orlando location fed those donating blood to the victims of the nightclub shooting. Video provided by Newsy Newslook

The shooting that took the lives of 49 people at a gay club in Orlando over the weekend has sparked an outpouring of support for the LGBT community, including from traditionally conservative fast food chain Chick fil A.

Some Chick fil A employees in Orlando showed up for work on Sunday, departing from the normal hours the fast food chain keeps in order to prepare food for first responders and people donating blood to victims of the shooting at gay nightclub Pulse.

The food donations are another sign of how far the company has come in re-crafting its image after CEO Dan Cathy incited customers when he spoke out against gay marriage in 2012, leading to protests at stores.

Cathy stepped back from making public statements about his personal beliefs, telling USA TODAY in 2014, "I'm going to leave it to politicians and others to discuss social issues."

Throughout its 70-year history, Chick fil A has maintained a policy of staying closed on Sundays, a decision founder Truett Cathy made so that employees "would have an opportunity to rest, spend time with family and friends, and worship if they choose to do so," according to the company website.

But Chick fil A says it has bent the rules a handful of times in order to help out with food donations for "communities in need," including this past weekend. Chick fil A Lee Vista, a store about a 20 minute drive from Pulse, posted several photos on its Facebook page Sunday of employees delivering food to volunteers. The store itself was not open to the public.

"The events in Orlando stirred our local restaurant owners and their teams to band together to provide nourishment to first responders as well as volunteers who donated blood," company spokeswoman Carrie Kurlander said in a statement. "We do not think this requires any recognition. It is the least we can do in this community we love."

It takes a special level of cowardly evil to open fire on a bunch of civilians who are out for an evening of fun.

It takes a special level of cowardly evil to open fire on a bunch of civilians who are out for an evening of fun.

:nod:

Please pray for both the nightclub shooting victims and their families and Christina Grimmie and her family.

R.I.P. to all.

While this was a very deadly mass shooting, it is not the largest like the news outlets are saying.

THIS was the largest mass shooting in America.

https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13435572_1224953324195940_3063329100896435342_n.jpg?oh=3913a7952b5f07876a41e15fefa1812c&oe=57FEEFF7
I knew there were bigger ones than this.

Nq6xRZlCSoM

Orlando Shooting: Omar Mateen's Wife Arrested
by Pamela Brown, Evan Perez and Adam Levine, CNN
January 16, 2017


Federal authorities have arrested the wife of Pulse nightclub shooter Omar Mateen in connection with their investigation into the June mass shooting, FBI spokesman Prentice Danner said Monday.

Noor Salman faces federal charges, which were filed in the Middle District of Florida, including obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting Mateen's material support to ISIS, according to a law enforcement official.

The arrest was first reported by the New York Times.





Authorities believe Salman acted of her own free will and knowingly took steps to obstruct the investigation into the shooting, according to a law enforcement official.

The official said her claims that she was coerced through her husband's abusive behavior did not stand up.

Another official says the evidence will show that she was complicit and knew her husband was going to do something bad.





Attorneys for Salman have not responded to CNN's request for comment. CNN's Dan Simon visited her family's home in Rodeo, California, for reaction and was told "no comment."

"I am glad to see that Omar Mateen's wife has been charged with aiding her husband in the commission of the brutal attack on the Pulse nightclub," said Orlando Police Chief John Mina.

"Federal authorities have been working tirelessly on this case for more than seven months, and we are grateful that they have seen to it that some measure of justice will be served in this act of terror that has affected our community so deeply."





Salman was arrested in the San Francisco area Monday morning, Danner said. She will have a court appearance on Tuesday in Oakland, California, according to Assistant US Attorney Abraham Simmons.

Salman, who married Mateen in 2011, came under increasing scrutiny as authorities investigated Mateen, who killed 49 people and injured more than 50 others when he opened fire at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

A law enforcement official told CNN last year that authorities were looking into whether Salman should face charges.





Salman gave conflicting accounts about what she knew of Mateen's intentions in the hours before the attack, authorities said last year. Salman, who was Mateen's second wife, had been cooperating with various law enforcement agencies after the attack last June.

Months before the attack, Mateen added the name of his wife to his life insurance policy and made sure she had access to his bank accounts, two law enforcement officials said. The gunman transferred his share of the home in which his sister and brother-in-law lived to them for just $10.

Mateen also bought his wife an expensive piece of jewelry, the sources said.





Salman told investigators that in the weeks leading up to the attack, Mateen spent thousands of dollars, buying among other things the guns used in the massacre. In April, he visited Disney World with his wife, and Disney security officials believe he was conducting surveillance, a law enforcement official told CNN.

Two days before the attack, he left his house angry and was carrying a bag of guns, his wife told investigators. Salman begged her husband not to leave and grabbed him by the arm, she said.



She told the FBI her husband said he wanted to carry out a jihadist attack, though she denied knowledge of his plans to launch the deadliest mass shooting in US history, a law enforcement official told CNN in June.

Two hours after the attack started, Mateen texted his wife at 4 a.m. and asked her whether she heard the news about the shooting. At one point, Salman told Mateen that she loved him.

FBI investigators initially didn't believe she was a co-conspirator in the attack but were looking into whether she should face charges for what information she may have had about Mateen's intentions, which she possibly failed to report to law enforcement.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/16/us/omar-mateen-wife-arrested/

Florida Nightclub Gunman's Widow Knew of his Plan, US Prosecutors Say
by Curtis Skinner
Feb. 1, 2017


The widow of the gunman behind the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history knew he was planning an attack and concocted a cover story for him, federal prosecutors said in a California court on Wednesday.

Prosecutors revealed new details about their case against Noor Salman, 30, as they argued she should remain jailed on charges stemming from the June 2016 shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu did not immediately rule, instead ordering psychiatric and psychological tests for Salman.





Salman was arrested earlier this month in the San Francisco Bay Area on federal charges of obstructing justice and aiding her late husband, Omar Mateen, in his attempt to provide material support to a terrorist organization.

She admitted knowing Mateen left their house with a firearm and a backpack full of ammunition before the Pulse nightclub shooting, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Sweeney told a federal judge in Oakland.

Sweeney also said Salman devised a cover story, directing Mateen to tell his parents, if asked, that he was at dinner with a friend.





"Noor aided and abetted her husband and repeatedly lied to the government," Sweeney said, calling her a "very calculating and callous person" who should be detained until her trial in Florida.

"Salman knew her husband was leaving to commit an attack and her actions contributed to the deaths of 49 people," she added.

Sweeney also alleged Salman accompanied Mateen on "casing" trips to two other locations, including Downtown Disney in Orlando, in the days before the shooting.

The prosecutor said Mateen asked Salman whether she thought people would be more upset by an attack on Downtown Disney or a club. Sweeney did not say whether Salman answered or specify her role in those trips.





Defense attorney Charles Swift said Salman's alleged admissions occurred after 18 hours in police custody, during which she was interrogated without a lawyer. Prosecutors have yet to provide written or recorded evidence of Salman's alleged admissions, Swift noted.

"She's alive and Omar Mateen is dead. So she's the only person they can charge," said Swift, describing Salman as a battered spouse who had learning disabilities in high school.

Salman's attorneys want her released to her family, saying she poses no threat to the public and requires mental health services not available in jail. They said she was asleep at home with the couple's 3-year-old son during the attack.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/02/01/florida-nightclub-gunmans-widow-knew-of-his-plan-us-prosecutor/21705314/

Widow of Pulse Nightclub Shooter Knew of Attack, FBI Says
by Megan Cerullo
Dec. 22, 2017


The widow of Pulse mass shooter Omar Mateen declined to testify in court Friday during an evidence suppression hearing.

Lawyers for Noor Salman, who is accused of aiding Mateen in planning and carrying out the June 12, 2016 attack that killed 49 people and injured at least 68 more, argued that statements she made to the FBI the day of the attack -- that indicate she was aware of her husband's plans -- should not be allowed into evidence during her trial.

FBI agents note that statements she made after the attack reveal she knew more than she initially let on.







Here are the key details revealed during this week's court proceedings:


Salman Told FBI her Husband was Visiting Extremist Sites

FBI Special Agent Ricardo Enriquez, who interviewed Salman the day of the attack, said she told him that Mateen had been exploring extremist websites for about two years before the attack.

But she claimed in their first interview not to know that he was planning an attack, Enriquez said in court, according to The Orlando Sentinel.





Salman Said She was "Sorry For What Happened", Wished She Had Warned Police

After his initial interview with her, Enriquez asked Salman to write a paragraph and say that nobody was forcing her to be there.

At the end of her statement she wrote, "I am sorry for what happened. I wish I could go back and tell his family and the police what he was going to do."

Enriquez said that's when he realized "that she knew."





Salman Later Told FBI that She and her Husband Drive Around Pulse Nightclub

In another statement, Salman told Enriquez that after she visited Disney Springs with her husband, they drove around the site of the attack for about 20 minutes, with the car's windows down.

Salman's lawyers suggested that the couple hadn't actually been in the area together. "It would shock you if it wasn't true," Salman's defense attorney, Swift asked Enriquez. "It would shock you if the GPS said they never went near the Pulse nightclub?"

Enqriquez said he had simply recorded Salman's statement to him.





Salman Said She Saw her Husband Researching the Club Online

Enriquez said Salman saw her husband looking at a photo of the club on June 10, 2016 - two days before the attack.

Mateen told her that Pulse was his target, Enriquez said. He said that's when Salman realized the attack was imminent.





Salman Knew her Husband was Dead, Even Though No One Told her That

Christopher Mayo, the first FBI agent to interview Salman after the attack, said that she indictated she knew her husband was dead, even though she hadn't yet been informed of his death, ABC-affiliate WFTV9 reported.





Salman Made Reference To her Husband's Attitude Towards Homosexuals

Salman claimed her husband would never hurt anyone because he liked everyone, including homosexuals, Mayo said. But Mayo notes that she shouldn't at that point have known that the attack had been made on a popular gay club in Orlando.





The Couple Spent More than $25,000 Leading Up to Attack

Thursday's motion said Salman knew Mateen was planning an attack based on his spending habits leading up to the massacre.

Financial records show the pair made more than $25,000 in credit card purchases and withdrew more than $5,500 in cash in the weeks leading up to the attack.

Tax filings show the couple only earned about $30,000 annually.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/12/22/widow-of-pulse-nightclub-shooter-noor-salman-knew-of-attack-fbi-agent-says/23315495/

Noor Salman, Widow of Pulse Nightclub Gunman, Found Not Guilty on all Counts
by Pete Williams
March 30, 2018


Noor Salman, the widow of Pulse nightclub gunman Omar Mateen, was found not guilty Friday in the only trial to stem from the deadly June 2016 shooting rampage.

Salman, 31, was accused of helping her husband plan his terror assault on the Orlando, Florida, nightclub and of falsely denying her role afterward.




The government equated Mateen's actions with supporting terrorism, because he repeatedly pledged allegiance to ISIS before and during the attack, which left 49 people dead and 53 injured. For that reason, Salman was charged with aiding him in providing material support to a terror group.

She was also charged with obstruction of justice, accused of misleading police and FBI agents by making contradictory statements about whether she knew what he was planning.




But after a two-week trial in U.S. District Court in Orlando, a jury acquitted her on both counts. Outside the courthouse, relatives and friends said they were elated.

"The family really wants to first say that we're very sorry for the family members and friends of the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting and also the survivors of that horrible attack," said Susan Clary, a spokesman for Salman's family.

"Noor can go home now to her son, Zack, resume her life and try to pick up the pieces."




Salman has been in jail since she was arrested in January 2017. "I don't know how she's going to make up for the last two years," said her uncle Al Salman.

Fritz Scheller, one of her defense lawyers, praised victims of the shooting who attended the trial.

"They came searching for the truth," he said. "Throughout the trial they showed a sense of dignity and compassion and understanding. Even after the verdict, we embraced. I just think they're extraordinary people and they've been through a lot."




During deliberations, jurors asked the judge to define "encouragement" and "support" for another's crime. In response, Judge Paul Byron said that to find that she aided and abetted her husband, the jury would have to conclude "that she participated in it as something that she wished to bring about, and that she sought by her actions to make it succeed."

The verdict suggests that jurors did not reach that conclusion.




Prosecutors said she knew that her husband was heavily armed when he left the house in a rented van the night of the shooting and, as she later told the FBI, "that he was going to do something bad."

But her lawyers said that statement was made under duress by a physically abused woman who had a low IQ and was easily intimidated. She was tired after a long interrogation by the FBI and signed a confession because she feared that she would lose custody of her young son, the defense said.




Prosecutors said she and Mateen scouted locations for possible attacks and went on an 11-day spending spree before the shooting, buying guns, ammunition, jewelry, and electronics, to equip him and give her financial security after his death.

During a pretrial hearing, investigators said that she initially told the FBI that she had no idea what her husband was planning. But later, they testified, Salman said that the week before the shooting, she and her husband were driving past the Pulse nightclub when he asked, "How upset are people going to be when it gets attacked?"




In a statement, Barbara Poma, owner of the nightclub and founder of a charity to aid the victims, urged everyone to accept the jury's decision and keep in mind that Omar Mateen was the killer.

"Those of us directly affected by this tragedy must find peace in our hearts and remember that he was the one who pulled the trigger that night," she said. "He was the perpetrator, and he should not have one more minute of power over our lives."




The trial produced several revelations about the shooting. Prosecutors said Mateen originally intended to attack Disney World, using a gun concealed in a baby stroller, but changed his mind after seeing police at the entertainment complex.

Government witnesses, using data from Mateen's cell phone, said he looked up information about Orlando nightclubs and went back and forth between two of them before setting on Pulse as his target.

She did not take the stand to testify during the trial. If she had been convicted, Salman could have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/noor-salman-widow-pulse-nightclub-gunman-found-not-guilty-all-n861461