Orlando Shooting BBC News Special

This is BBC News, the headlines at six:

The worst mass shooting in US history, 50 people are dead

after a gunman opened fire in a gay nightclub in Orlando in Florida.

The gunman has been identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen. Rick Scott,

the Florida governor, described as an act of terror. For someone to be

an active shooter, to take the number of lives at the book is an

act of terror. The attacker was armed with an assault rifle and a

handgun when he opened fire in a gay club. President Obama is expected to

make a statement in half an hour. It is the deadliest mass shooting in

US history. 50 people are now known to have died after a gunman opened

fire inside a crowded Florida nightclub. More than 50 others were

injured, many critically. Police say they are investigating the killings

as an act of terrorism. The attacker has been named as Omar Mateen, a US

citizen of Afghan descent. A senior FBI official is quoted as saying the

29-year-old may have had leanings toward Islamic State militants. The

attack began at the end local time in Orlando. The heavily armed gunmen

held hostages at the venue for three hours would be killed when police

stormed the building. The mayor of Orlando has issued this statement.

We are dealing with something unimaginable. Since the last update

we have gotten better access to the building. We have cleared the

building and it is with great sadness that I shared that we have

not 20 but 50 casualties. In addition to the shooter, there are

another 53 and are hospitalised. Because of the scale of the crime, I

have asked the governor to declare a state of emergency. We are also

issuing a state of emergency for the city of Orlando so we can bring

additional resources to bear. In the past few minutes,

the Florida Senator Bill Nelson has said there appears to be a link

with Islamic extremism. I asked the FBI if there was any

connection to Islamic radicalism. There appears to be. But they are

naturally cautious and waiting throughout to see if this is the

fact. I have checked with intelligence staff and they do

believe that there is some connection to Islamic State, but

that is not official. President Obama has been briefed and

is due to deliver a statement in around half an hour. First, Jane

Francis Kelly reports. Video records gunshots coming from

the popular gay nightclub Pulse. One man who was inside described what he

saw. Nobody really knew what was going on until they saw people on

the ground bleeding and heard people screaming and heard the commotion

because you didn't know. When you are in a bar like that you think it

is you sick. Traumatised and injured clubbers were taken to hospital for

treatment. One mother received texts from her son who said they were

trapped in the toilets and the feared they were going to die.

Another mortar -- mother was distraught looking for her son. No

one can tell me where my son is. If he has been shot, if he is still

alive. No one knows. They don't need there are fatalities. Dozens of

emergency vehicles unattended outside, including the bomb squad

and hazardous material team. Immediately following the attack,

the gunman is reported to have barricaded himself into the club and

taken hostages. Please performed a controlled explosion outside to

distract him before he was shot dead. They said he appeared to be

armed with an assault rifle, a handgun and some sort of device. We

consider this an act of terrorism. Absolutely. We are investigating

this from every perspective as an act of terrorism. At a time we have

potentially dozens of victims in any of our communities then I think we

can qualify that as a terrorist activity. A major investigation is

now being undertaken to determine the motives of the gunman and

whether he was acting alone. Let's get more from our

correspondent Luis Farjardo. And overwhelming reaction from

politicians, the public and from people in Florida who are queueing

up in hospitals to give blood. Apparently the blood banks are

overwhelmed with the level of support local people are giving

because there are still 53 people who are injured in hospitals. They

need treating. The priority today is living after those who are still

injured, trying to get them the attention and help they need,

looking after the families of the victims and looking after the

investigation. The investigation taking place at a federal level.

President Obama will speak in an hour and he will address the issue

of the investigation and what the White House response is. I broke

into the from their point of view that the president speaks to what

the White House is doing in terms of this investigation, reassuring the

American public on issues of 70 but also empathise with the degree of

fear that there is around the issue of terrorism and national security.

We will hear from the president. That is the only White House

official we will hear from today, but they have to explain to the

American public what happened here as far as they know, given that this

is a very new investigation and what the White House is trying to do to

make the country safer in light of this. That they bring in David

Cross. -- let me bring in. It is only in this investigation but what

is your understanding about what you so far? The shooter has been

identified as Omar Martine. In an early conference this morning he had

an FBI official saying that only leads suggest he was motivated by

jihadist ideology but they also caveat is that by saying that it was

early in the process. We have a profile of him emerging. One should

be cautious because there is a fog of war effect is close to a violent

incident. There are several people in the country named Omar Mateen.

There is no official picture gets I would be cautious about people

having some mistaken identity in the process and that information could

slow things down. We have had one photograph that has been released.

You are an expert in counterterrorism. You have been

involved in investigations. What are officials looking for, what are the

critical things in these first few hours after an attack that they will

try to understand the smart the photograph is from his MySpace page.

I could post you to several other photographs. In looking at the

MySpace page, there is nothing that identifies him with Florida so I

still have a question about whether people are jumping to conclusions.

That said, everyone is reaching the same conclusion. Authorities with

the lifting for his electronic trail. One of the highest priorities

is, does he have associates who, if the terrorism league ends up being

the truest one, are their associates who could pose a danger to the

community? How deeply does this go? Who knew? Why did he get his

weapons? They will pursue those questions in terms of honing in on a

motive but also protecting the public from anything else that could

pose an immediate danger to them. Step of this, we will hear now...

What is the scene down there at the moment? I have just arrived here a

few minutes ago. If I just move the camera down at that, there is a

police cordoned here, lots of media as well. It is about two or three

blocks from where I am standing at the nightclub is out. As you have

been reporting, it is clear on the ground here, there is a state of

emergency here and the police investigation, which continues, many

of the victims are still unidentified. Agencies here are

urging people to call their heartland, to get in touch with them

and, as you can probably hear, there are police helicopters.

Understandably, a huge police presence here in a city that now has

a state of emergency. There have been calls for people to give blood.

What has the response been down there and what do we know about the

status of the people who are injured and in hospital? On the local radio

station, as I was travelling here on a taxi, I heard people talking about

the blood donations. I heard people saying there are very long queues, I

haven't witnessed them, but long queues of people donating blood at

nearby that banks and have two confirmed this but I heard as well

that they have lifted a ban on gay people donating blood, which from

what they were saying on the local radio, has been in place. That has

been lifted. Anyone can give blood here in Orlando. As you have been

talking about in your coverage, as well as the 50 who have lost their

lives in this attack, there are more than 50 who are injured and in a

critical condition. We are expecting an update from the FBI and from the

local hospitals in about an hour or so after the president has spoken.

We will hopefully get a clearer idea about how those people who are being

treated in hospital are getting on. We understand the White House

contacted hospital officials to allow them to restrict, rather to

lift restrictions, on contacting family members. This me a sense of

the context. Orlando, a lot of people watching this associated with

amusement parks. It might have been on holiday there. Give me some sort

of feel for where you are and the neighbourhood this club this is

Orlando. As you say, a place the families visit to visit Disney and

other attractions here like universal studios. It is a family

focused place, somewhere that you would not expect this to happen but

we say that every time these things happen because this is such a

tragedy of huge proportions. The worst mass shooting to happen in the

United States. To give you an idea, usually on flights to Orlando, if we

travel to Orlando, you'll see lots families. Is seen as a very safe,

family friendly area. Very popular with people from around the world,

including from places like the UK. It is a part of America that many

people from outside Disney World and have heard of. What is the security

situation there at the moment? You mentioned there is a police cordon.

As she flew into Orlando, was there a step up police presence? Does

there seem to be extra security on the streets? I am just holding my

phone, but if I can switch this around, if it is possible to do so,

I will give you a quick tour of what we can see. That is the end of the

road. Two police officers there. They are not letting anyone down,

then a large number of the media and police tape. What media just around

here but if you've are down this road, there are a number of cars and

I was told by the sheriffs I was talking to, that is the governor, he

is leaving, he has been talking to the media here. He is speeding off

in his car. There are lots of people, investigators, I would FBI

agents and police officers who are the owners of those cars which are

further down. Just from where you are looking at this image now, it is

about two blocks on the left that is where the nightclub is. The cord and

does run quite far back. I have covered a number of these kinds of

shootings and they do Nicholas stand very far back because this is an

active police investigation. It is difficult to really know what is

going on but it is clear from the skill of this and how far we have

been made to stand fact that this is a huge police operation. When the

police delivered a press conference they said they had help from forces

across the United States. I can imagine now, given that there is a

possibility this is a terror attack and they are investigating it as a

possible loan as enquiry that as well as that there will be an

international dimension to the investigation. As I said just then,

we are expecting to hear from the FBI in the next hour or so. I will

show you, there is a lecturer in here which is where the police press

conference will take place. It says Creech, pride and commitment for

Orlando. This is where the police press conference will take place and

just to be many viewers who might be joining us, I am at the scene, a few

street away from where the deadliest mass shooting in America took place

yesterday just after TV-am and 50 people are confirmed dead. More than

50 have been injured in this attack and there are about 30 people who

were rescued after what police describe as a hostage type incident.

More people walking toward the scene but we are still behind this police

cordon, waiting to get more information from the police. I will

just move the background so we can share that with our viewers. They

did say earlier, police said that they have secured the nightclub.

They don't believe there are any devices or explosives in the

nightclub and as far as they are aware, there is no imminent threat

of another attack. America is on a state of the Germans. I understand,

as high as it was after 911. That is something that is already in place.

The sense of an imminent threat here in Orlando after the horrific

attack. As we just heard, we are bringing you special coverage of the

attack in Orlando over night in a nightclub. 50 people were killed, 53

are in hospital. Officials are appealing for blood donations to

treat those who are still in hospital. The governor of Florida

has said this is clearly an act of terror. They are treating it as

such. Senate some of Florida has said that he understands from

Richmond officials that the shooter who has been named as Omar Mateen

had sympathies with Islamic State. That is what we know at the minute

in this investigation. President Obama will speak in about 15 minutes

and people get more of the White House reaction. You can see a

photograph of the alleged shooter, Omar Mateen, which was taken from

social media. Let me bring the counterterrorism expert. In terms of

the investigation, you were the steps and the processes. There has

been quite a lot of discussion about the difference between whether he

was the shooter and, again, I stress this is the legend sugar, details

are still coming in to us, the investigation is in early stages so

we don't know much about this case, but explain to us the difference

between whether an attack in this instance, the shooter had sympathies

with Islamic extremist organisations or somehow was linked to and

directed by Islamic extremist organisations which work what is the

critical difference there in terms of national security and

counterterrorism? The critical difference is that if he had

sympathies, it means he was inspired by them. He didn't necessarily have

connections with the organisation, wasn't directed. If it is linked to

or directed back, that is much stronger. If it is linked to, there

is a connection to the organisation. It could've been an electronic

connection, a physical connection, local networks or overseas travel.

That has happened in some cases, not necessarily this one. Directed by is

even stronger. The organisation had foreknowledge and either give its

authorisation or instructed him to attack a specific target. Earlier

this year, last year rather, we saw an attack against a drop Muhammad

cartoon contest. That had strong linkages to the Islamic State

network. There was for knowledge which is clear from all the

information that has come out. In this case, they are looking for what

is the degree of connection? If he was part of a local logistics

network or something of the sword, you can bet authorities were alone

in and learn everything they can about the network. One final thing

is that when you look at terrorism cases, there is a strong bias in

favour of not finding a network connection. The New York Times had a

good piece on this year. They look at European attacks over the years

and found that going back to 2012, there was a number of attacks with a

stronger connection to the Islamic State that work and was originally

seen. That is worth bearing in mind as you look at the Lone Wolf versus

network terrorism argument that might play out. Two questions, what

can you surmise from the amount of ammunition that this shooter had

come 50 people killed, 53 more injured and from reports from his

father that he had a future of the LGBT community? The discussion with

his father is very telling. His father talked... He talked about two

men kissing in a restaurant and went into a rage saying they are doing

this in front of my kids. His father mentioned about being in the

bathroom and Cink men kissing. Basically, it is clear that Omar

Mateen had seen LGBT type activity around his family and was enraged by

that. That is something that will go to his overall motive. In terms of

the ammunition, ammunition isn't that hard to get. When you click on

a weapon of this kind, the thing that takes the utmost skill isn't

shooting at, that is not difficult, it is the prelude in between. In

this act space and given the kind of weapon he had, he might have had

time. We don't know how much skill and we don't know if the ammunition

should have given people a heads up that this was happening. For someone

who goes to a shooting range, it is not unusual to stock an enormous

amount of ammunition just for your own practice shooting. Thank you for

joining us. I should say that Senator Bob Casey has already just

called for the banning of the type of weapon that was used in this

attack. We will hear more from President Obama in about ten

minutes. For the moment, but is it from Washington. Back to the studio

in London. Just to recap our main news this hour, 50 people have been

killed at a nightclub in Orlando. This after a shooting there. This is

the worst mass shooting in modern American history. A gunman opened

fire at a gay club at the city. He was later killed by police. Scores

of people have been injured, many seriously. The suspect has been

named as Omar Mateen. He is a 29-year-old man. In the last few

minutes, and Orlando city commissioner, Paddy Sheehan, has

delivered this statement on behalf of the LGBT community in the city.

We as a gay lesbian and bisexual community are people who love. If

you think you will start at the heart of a spike in this horrible,

violent act. We love. We are as resilient as an ER the people. We

will have people lined up behind those blood banks, we will show what

the good part of humanity is, not the bad part. You cannot get your

message across by killing people. You are thugs and burglars and we

will show you that we are a better community and the Americans than

this. Thank you. The governor of Florida briefed reporters about the

shootings a little earlier. This is clearly an act of terrorism. It is

sickening. It should make every American angry. The first thing you

think about is, you cannot imagine what these families are going

through. The families are still waiting to find out what happened to

their loved ones. The most important thing we can do right now as

law-enforcement is to do our job and other health care workers are doing

everything they can for the victims. We need to pray for everybody. Thank

God we have the law enforcement we have. The Orange County police

Department, the sheriff's Department of the federal agencies, everybody

has coordinated their activities very well. It is the road, the

individuals who went into the building known there was an active

shooter. We need to be very thankful that there are individuals willing

to see if -- risked their lives to save other lives and they clearly

did save other lives. For anybody who thinks that they should do this,

I can tell you the state of Florida, local law enforcement, we will be

swift in our justice. We have great law enforcement in our state. They

will always do the right thing. I declared a state of emergency for

Orange County. We will provide all the resources that anyone needs but

I can tell you everybody will work together and that is one thing great

about our state. Orlando, Orange County and I want to thank the

federal agencies for their support. Right now, our hearts and prayers go

out to everybody who has been impacted by this. I cannot imagine a

family member who is still waiting to find out what happened to their

loved one. It has to be heart-wrenching. The authorities

have identified the man who they believe carried out the Orlando

shootings. The gunman was Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old resident of

Florida. He was a United States citizen of Afghan descent. His

father has apologised to the victims. Supporters of the Islamic

State group have praised the attack on social media. Mateen used an

assault rifle to carry out the shootings. With media in the studio

is our security correspondent. Tell us what the authorities will be

doing now in terms of the suspect and finding out whether he was a

lone wolf or linked to other networks? They will be looking

closely to understand his motivation and connections. That will involve

going back over his biography, his communications, his contacts, his

social media, trying to understand whether this was in any way linked

to so-called Islamic State or not. We have heard from his family. But

one account, this was a very personal grudge. He saw some gay

people in prison and was motivated by this and yet there have been

reports, not confirmed, that he might have identified himself with

Islamic State. That has not been confirmed but I think authorities

will try to understand the mix between the personal motivation and

this affiliation or ideological link. You could have both, you could

have a mix of the two. They will want to know if this was a

self-starter, someone who is self-directed or if he had any

connections to any kind of external terrorist group you might have given

him -- training or direction. He was heavily armed. This was a

well-planned attack. What does that tell us about the suspect? People

will want to know if he was trained in anyway or did he receive some

kind of external weapons training in the US or abroad? That would be one

issue, trying to understand that and whether that contributed to how

lethal his attack was or whether it was simply the fact of having

automatic weapons in such a confined space with so many people as this

nightclub. For now, thank you very much. Before we go back to

Washington, we know that President Obama will be speaking shortly, in

about five minutes. We will go to the press conference when we have

it, but let's bring back in Jakati K in Washington for us. What has been

the reaction of politicians where you are to the worst mass shooting

in American history? We are expecting to hear from the president

in about five minutes and what the White House is going to have to

address is national security issues, fear amongst the public about

terrorism, access to guns and ammunition and an attack against the

LGBT community. This will have to be a very carefully crafted statement

that we get from President Obama. This comes in the middle of a heated

political election campaign and we have heard from the presumptive

Democratic and Republican nominees. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

You can think expressing sympathy with the victims and their families,

but not talking about the issue of terrorism or gun control. Donald

Trump talking about the need to make America stronger and more vigilant.

When will we get tough, smart and vigilant? That was a tweet that can

out from Donald Trump. A different approach there from Donald Trump and

Hillary Clinton. I think that, on the whole, the response from

American political establishment has been to focus on the victims, the

attack, the families of those who died and left this investigation

take its course and law enforcement do their jobs. Some have talked

about gun-control, one Democratic senator, Bob Casey, called for a ban

on the type of weapon used in this attack. There will also be a lot of

focus on the course of the investigation. When attacks of this

nature happen in America, there is a distinction between whether it was

associated with Islamic extremism and classed as a Islamic act of

terrorism and other attacks, where the focus has been on gun control.

This time and then now, this new element that we haven't seen before,

an attack of this scale and targeted against the LGBT community. That

makes for a complicated picture for law

People appear to be responding to a call for blood in Orlando. People

asked to go and give blood in local hospitals. What more do we know

about how the hospitals are coping with the survivors of this attack?

The hospitals have been over Rand by the same -- the sheer number, they

have had to take in the dead and the injured. Doctors have been flown

into Orlando hospital, surgeons to try to help with this huge overload

of people that need attention right now. The public has responded with a

huge oak roaring in the Kim the date of sympathy for the LGBT community

and the victims. The blood banks are over Rand with queues of people who

are wanting to give blood and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has

called on people to give blood when they can to help the injured, so a

big outpouring of sympathy and effective blood donations for the

injured and flying doctors into that immunity to treat the injured. We

are getting more pictures of this awful attacks that happened

overnight in Orlando. This is the gunman of this attack. The source

out the leave to be responsible for the worst mass shooting in US

history. Terrorism obviously on the minds of people in the US. A state

of emergency has been declared. This will feed into the fear that these

sorts of attacks can take place sometimes at whim. Of course.

Terrorism works because it creates terror, not necessarily because of

the number of people killed although this is the single biggest mass

shooting in America, 50 people, we have not had numbers like that here

before. There are terrorism is already high in America and even

before this people were frightened of the prospect of an attack even

though the actual numbers has been relatively low compared to European

numbers, so this is bound to exacerbate that. President Bob

armour will address the nation in the few minutes. He has had to

address the nation after mass shootings, as he said, too many

times. Arora, Tucson, Sandy Hook, Charleston, just to name a few of

them, he has had to go before the invasion every time and addressed

the country about attacks by shooters on American soil. This time

it also has the added complication for the White House and for

investigators of potential sympathies with Islamic extremism

and the issue, as some American politicians are raising, of gun

control. We have seen President of Balmer at his most emotional talking

about the children killed at Sandy Hook, the sixth and seven-year-olds

who lost their lives. He has of field to the American public forum

gun control in this country, tighter restrictions on access to guns but

those appeals went nowhere. In fact, some states that implemented

gun-control after Sandy Hook have since repealed those laws, so the

prospect of this president getting tighter than controls, he has

already told the BBC this is one of the greatest regrets of his

presidency and he must talk about another mass shooting in the

country. Let's go to Miami, we can go to the BBC's correspondent there

at the scene. Can you give us some sense, I think we are getting

details now of some of those who work killed in the shooting. Have

you heard any more about the victims? At parent Lee the disco was

having a laugh and night so it appears several members of the

Hispanic community, often of Puerto Rican origin, some of the

unconfirmed reports say a lot of them are Hispanic. Beyond that we

are still waiting to hear from the authorities. And do we know anything

more about the people who were still in hospital, the numbers and

conditions of those still in hospital? Before the initial

information there were more than 50 people injured, some seriously, the

authorities were suggesting the death toll could go up because many

of them were facing critical conditions in hospital. What the

reaction been where you were in Miami? We were talking and moment

into about how attacks like the committee. Are you sensing that

where you are? Absolutely. May Army feels very close to or Lando, as

other people have said, or Lando is a very family oriented place and

school vacations just began in the Army and a lot of families were

looking forward to taking their children to the theme parks, so it

strikes a lot of people here in the community but they are trying to

project a message of solidarity in the string of this kind of incident

of violence, thoroughly the worst shooting in contemporary American

history but it feels very close here in Miami. Thank you for joining us,

some sense of the victims, who they work, the people who were still in

hospital, the need for blood and the response to blood bags, which is

been overwhelming in the Orlando area. We will expect the president

to address the nation in a few minutes and we will bring you full

coverage when he does. For now, back to you in London.

If you are just joining us here on BBC News, the main story this are...

50 people have been killed by a gunman at a nightclub in Orlando.

The suspect has been identified as a US citizen, Omar Mateen, 29, and we

can now take you to sit Bill Nelson, who represents Florida. He spoke to

reporters a short time ago. This morning Senator I am fine stein,

chair of the intelligence community and I have both been on the phone

with the counter terrorism Centre of the FBI. It is confirmed that the

shooter is from Fort Paris, Florida. That is some 90 miles to the

south-east of Orlando, on the coast. Obviously he knew what he was doing

with that and considering the ammunition as well as the weapons

that he had. I asked the Earth ERA if there was any connection to

Islamic radicalism. There appears to be, but they are naturally cautious

and waiting throughout to see if this is the facts emerge. I have

checked with intelligence staff and Dave believe that there is some

connection to ices, but I might say that is not official -- Isis. I

asked the FBI what I should convey and because of the nature of this

shooting, they have asked me to ask anybody that knows anything about

the shooter, especially in the Fort Paris, Saint Lucie County area, to

please come forth with the information. This appears to be,

unfortunately, the largest mass shooting, and act of terrorism but

the facts, wait cannot say that totally yet. We are certainly having

our share of violence, in two successive nights we have had

killings. The singer performing live at the Plaza, shot the own two

nights ago and then this horrific act, so what is happening to our

country? We are going to have to dig down deep and ask ourselves who we

are as a people. We have to think of ourselves as they comment on a

monitor of Americans, not a hyphenated American or off on some

cause, and that is what we have to explore it deep inside at this

point. That is the information I have. I will share more as I get it.

Based on what intelligence told you, what is the connection to ices? I

will get that information to you once I have told but I am just

passing it off, from credible services, that information is not

from the FBI. That is from intelligence committee staff. But

the death VI information for Senator Feinstein and myself is directly

from the assistant director of the counterterrorism centre in

Washington. We expect in a statement from President of Balmer in the next

few knots. We will bring that to you when we can. This is our main story

this are, 50 people have been shot dead at a nightclub in Orlando,

Florida. The suspect has been named as Omar Mateen, 29 years old. He

killed 50 people or assists acted killing 50 people at that game

nightclub in the city and the suspect was later killed by police.

Mike College Tom Duncan has been speaking to one of Eric, who was in

the Pulse nightclub when the shooting happened.

We started hearing the shooting after ours, we heard this shooting

with the cop outside and the shooter. Once he gets inside he is

blocking the exit and nobody can get to that exit. I couldn't get a good

look at his face but we heard loud banging outside and the shop is

down. After that the lights were off and we couldn't see anything so we

had blood everywhere, people on the floor and we jumped the fence and

once we were outside the cops were surrounding the building, the

helicopter was on top of the building. The cops wouldn't let

other people leave and it wasn't until five I am when the shooter

finally got shot and people were hiding in the dressing rooms. When

you got out with your life, what were you told? How did you get away

from the scene? We were with the cops. The block was surrounded by

cops and they wouldn't let us leave because they wanted to question us

about who the shooter was, it wasn't until 5am that we left and the

shooter was caught and people were saved from the inside, but he killed

a lot of people while he was inside holding those people hostage and

people were hiding in the dressing rooms. Is this a relatively safe

club? Have their been incidences of violence in your time? Never. Give

us a sense of friend government started, was there any warning?

us was at two a.m., once we heard loud shootings outside, we knew

everybody was up and running to the exit, I ran out with my friend and

he was at the front exit blocking everybody, people were trying to

jump on top of them and get through the back and that is where the

lights went out and there was blood everywhere and everyone was

panicking. Let's bring you some breaking news. Rogers is quoting the

LA Times news feed say that a man has been arrested with assault

rifles, ammunition and possible explosives. The suspect is reported

to have said that he was heading to LA Gay pride festival, Gay pride

festivals happening in several cities across the US. The candidates

running for the US residency have been reacting to the shooting.

Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump tweeted "Really bad

Police investigating possible terrorism.

Hilary Clinton has added: Woke up to hear the devastating

As we wait for more information, my thoughts are with those affected

Her fellow Democrat Bernie Sanders has also been speaking.

It's horrific, it's unthinkable and our hopes go out to all those who

were shot that they can recover, and 25 years ago I believed in this

country we should not be selling automatic weapons designed to kill

people, and we have to do everything we can to make sure guns do not fall

into the hands of people who should not have them, criminals, the

mentally ill, so that struggle continues. More reaction now from

leading figures to the news from Orlando. President Hollande France

has issued a statement condemning the killing and expressing the full

support of France with the American people at this time. Republican

Senator Mark Rubio says confronting the threat of radicalisation is one

of the greatest counterterror challenges our law enforcement

community faces. The Italian Prime Minister Matera Renzi has tweeted at

our heart is with our American brothers. We expect President Obama

to be speaking shortly, we will bring you that press conference when

we can but first let's go to Kathie Kay in Washington. Bernie Sanders

was quite clear about his thoughts on gun control that you said earlier

that this attack is very much a terrorism related attacks and

perhaps the public's opinions might be next on this. That is what

officials in Florida are describing this as, an act of terror, and it is

true that the American public make some kind of distinction in these

cases between gun attacks that are driven by more than two terrorism

and Islamic extremism and those that are home-grown or have not got links

to Islamic extremism. President Obama will address the nation. I

know from e-mails I am having with his staff that they are crafting

this address carefully. It is complex because there are so many

factors that appear to be involved. We understand the shooter had

sympathies, saunter Ben Nelson has been told with Islamic groups and

Islamic State, his father told us he had a hatred of the LGBT community

and got furious when he sought to men kissing in a restaurant, then

there is the access to weapons and ammunition and the president, at the

same time as addressing those issues, has to reassure an American

public that is anxious about national security and terrorism on

US soil, so that is why there is some delay from the White House, we

expected the president 20 minutes ago but we know they are watching

his words carefully and that will be the statement we get from the White

House this morning. We should put this in context. President Obama has

addressed the American public 12 times after mass shootings in this

country. He has tried to get gun control group in America. In January

she grew cheerful during an address in which he spoke about executive

orders he was taking to try to limit the access people had to guns and

implement some kind of gun control, it was fairly minor but he was

getting emotional as recently as January, then there is the terrorism

investigations side that will be going on. That is where we are

today, the investigation will be the most urgent part of this attack. Did

the shooter have links to other people? What is on his computer and

phone? Was he acting alone or did other people know what he was

planning? Those are the initial stages this investigation will take

as FBI and counterterror experts trawl through everything that is

known about this individual and every piece of electronic

communication he has had. How is the country reacting to such a deadly

mass shooting? If you are as ago we were told 20 people had been killed

and then that they told John to 50, making it the worst in US history.

It has shot the nation. I have covered too many of these mass

shootings in America. I covered 911 and the shooting in San Bernardino,

but we haven't seen a shooting in with so many people have been killed

as this. All over the media it is the only thing on television, on

social media, it's what politicians are responding to, it's what the

political candidates are responding to in very different ways, Hillary

Clinton and Donald from this morning, and it is bound to increase

fears about terrorism in the country. Thank you. The authorities

have identified the man who they believed carried out the attack in

Orlando. He was Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old Florida resident, a US

citizen of Afghan descent. His father has apologised to the Vic

Dunnes. Supporters of the Islamic State group have praised the attack

on social media. Omar Mateen used an assault rifle to carry out the

shootings. Earlier I spoke to our security correspondent Gordon

Couric, who spoke about what authorities are doing to identify a

motivation for the attack. They will be trying to understand his

connections, so that will mean going back over his social media profile,

trying to understand if this was linked to so-called Islamic State or

not. We have heard from his father that

this was to do with hatred of the gay community but we have also heard

he had sympathy for Islamic groups, and authorities will be trying to

understand, you could have a mix of the two and they will want to know

whether this was a self-starter or if he had any connections to any

external terror group who might have given him training or direction. He

was heavily armed. We heard from the believes this was a well-planned

attack. What does that tell us? People want to know if he was

trained in anyway where did he received some kind of external

weapons training in the US or abroad, so one issue will be trying

to understand that and if that contributed to that the faulty of

his attack or if it was having automatic weapons in a confined

space like this nightclub. I want to bring you a picture that is online

at the moment, believed to be the source of the gunmen's hose. We hope

to bring that to you shortly -- house. That is on the BBC website

and that victory there, the house of the suspected gunman who is believed

to be Omar Mateen. Let's go back to Kathie Kay, who is in Washington. We

are expect in President Alabama to speak. This press conference has

been delayed. What is delaying it? This is an important statement for

the president to make. It is the current time he will address the

nation after a mass shooting and there is the added factor of whether

the shooter had direct links or just sympathies with Islamic State. His

hatred, his father is reporting, of the LGBT community, so the rock a

lot of complex factors and the president and his team want to make

sure they get the state went right as the investigation is in its early

hours, still a lot we do not know about what happened in Orlando. We

will have plenty more in the coming hours including that press

conference that we are expecting from President Obama. He will

address the nation after a shooting at a nightclub in Orlando. It is the

worst mass shooting in modern US history. Plenty more on our website,

eyewitness accounts, facts and figures about this attack in

Orlando. Stay with us here on BBC News. There are still some heavy

showers and thunderstorms about if you were heading out, so lots of

spray and standing water. They have been especially potent but when we

saw the sunshine in the second some big storms developed, so the drains

have had a lot to cope with. The are tending to peter out.

It will be a bit manky near the coast, fog and hill

cloud around, so it will be another close night.

Very little wind so there could be some fog, very few

isobars over the country but we have low pressure,

Some fog first thing in the morning, grey and damp, then it brightens up

and the weather system fragments, but that provides the ingredients

The best weather like we have seen at the

weekend is for Northern Isles and perhaps on Monday

Feeling fresh but it will stay murky near the North Sea coasts

and elsewhere there is moisture and sunshine will trigger

Remember that this humidity is at 90% plus so it will feel warm

In any brightness it will feel pleasant.

The showers fade on Monday evening and overnight and again we will sit

mist and low cloud trapping the heat so it will be close again, just

We are starting to see a change but Tuesday with low pressure

slap bang across the country, we will once again

Some coastal areas may see decent sunshine.

Subtle changes on Wednesday as we see some fresh air

coming into this Northern part of the country,

but the sun is strong and there will be big downpours around.

You can get the latest warnings from the website.

Broken hearts, we stand with the people of Orlando who have ensured a

terrible attack of. Although it is still early in the investigation, we

know enough to save this was an act of terror and an active yet. As

Americans, we are united in grief, in average and in resolve to defend

our people. I just had a partnership with local law enforcement. The full

resources of the federal government will be made available for this

investigation. We are still learning all the facts. This is an open

investigation. We have reached the definitive judgment on the precise

motivations of the killer. The FBI is appropriately investigating this

as an act of terrorism and I directed that we must spirit no

effort to determine what, if any, inspiration or association this

killer might have had with terrorist groups. What is clear is that he was

a person filled with hatred. Over the coming days we will uncover a

white how this happened and we will go where ever the facts lead us.

This morning I spoke with my good friend, the Orlando Mayor and I

conveyed to him the deepest condolences of the American people.

This could have been any one of our communities so I told him that what

ever help you and the people of Orlando need, they are going to get

it. As a country, we will be there for the people of Orlando today,

tomorrow and for all the days to come. We also express our profound

gratitude to all the police and first responders who rushed into

harms way. Their courage and professionalism saves lives. It kept

the carnage from being even worse. It is the kind of sacrifice that our

law enforcement professionals make every single day for all of us and

we can never thank them enough. This is an especially heartbreaking day

for all of our friends, our fellow Americans, who are lesbian, gay,

bisexual or transgender. The shooter targeted a nightclub where people

came together to be with friends, the Dons anti-sense and to live. The

place they were attacked is more than a nightclub, it is a place of

solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise

awareness, to speak their minds and to advocate for their civil rights.

This is a sobering reminder that attacks and anti-American,

regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, is

an attack on all of us. On the fundamental values of equality and

dignity that define us as a country. Now actively ignored terror will

ever change and we are with the values that make us Americans. Today

marks the most deadly shooting in American history. The shooter was

apparently armed with a handgun and a powerful assault rifle. This

massacre is a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get

their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school or in

a house of worship or a movie theatre or in a nightclub. We have

to decide if that is the kind of country we want to be forced to

actively doing nothing is a decision as well. In the coming hours and

days, we will learn about the victims of the strategy. Their

names, their faces, who they were, enjoy the product to families and

two friends. The difference that they need in this world. Say a

prayer for them. Say a prayer for their families. May God give them

the strength to bear the unbearable. But he give us all the strength to

be there for them and the strength and courage to change. We need to

demonstrate that we are defined more as a country by the way they live

their lives then buy the kit of a man who took them from us. As we go

together, we will draw inspiration from heroic and selfless acts,

friends who helped friends, took care of each other and save lives.

In the face of hate and violence we will love one another. We will not

give in to fear or turn against each other, instead we will stand united

as Americans to protect their people and defend our nation and take

action against those who threaten us. May God bless the Americans lost

this one out, they comfort their families, may God continue to watch

over this country. We love. Thank you. President Obama 's he said the

FBI was investigating Terror and we will go the officers of the LG

targeted in a First Division five times the

past chickens president is angry and

upset, but he is saying we don't have a definitive judgment on the

motives. He did refer to the need for gun control in the country but

he did not go into that at length as he has done after some previous

shootings. The president has a sense of frustration and resignation and

anger about the issue of gun control. He has addressed it being a

further reminder in a school, a cinema, a nightclub. Those are

references to previous shootings. He asked the question, is that the

country we want to be and he asks for God to give American strength

and courage to change. It wasn't a long address about gun control and

it wasn't a long address about the threat of terrorism and national

security, partly because the investigation is in its early stages

and we don't know, as the president said, the motive. He did express a

lot of sympathy for the lesbian, and he spelt it out, are lesbian, gay,

bisexual and transgender friends, this is a particularly are today. In

short, super address by the president as the country tries to

understand what happened in Orlando last night. He also referred to this

nightclub shooting as an act of terror and is activated. Perhaps a

nod to how complicated this investigation is. Yes, we have heard

a lot during the past few hours, since this attack took place, about

the shooter and his possible motives. We had the Senator from

Florida, Ben Nelson, said he has been told by law enforcement

officials that the shooter did have sympathies with Islamic State. We

have two American television networks reporting that the shooter

called 911, the emergency services and pledged allegiance to Islamic

State before this attack. We have also had the shooter's father saying

that he was angered when he sought to gay men kissing in a restaurant

and he expressed a hatred of gay people in the country. There are a

lot of issues and complications in this investigation that authorities

had to sort out. Let's talk to David Ross, a security expert with the

Institute for the defence of democracy. I thought the President

chose his words carefully when it came to the investigation and

possible motives. Absolutely. It should be said that the line between

terrorism and it crimes is a very thin one. Sometimes there is a grey

area where many acts which have multiple motives, it is hard to tell

where one ends and the other begins. As was just being said, the

president referred to that. What is that fine line? Can you spell that

out? For example, you had this horrific shooting at a secret temple

if you years ago in Wisconsin. You had, last year, the Dylan roof

sheeting in Carolina. If people said this is an act of terrorism. That

might be correct. If you look at what terrorism is, it is acts of

violence that are meant to coerce a civilian population or to influence

government policies. It crimes or crimes, usually violent crimes, that

are committed against a group that is particularly disliked by the

person carrying them out. There is a similarity between the two. Going

back about a century when the Ku Klux Klan had established itself,

the Ku Klux Klan is known as a huge group, it is also characterised by

scholars as a terrorist group. It is a thin line about whether an act of

violence, and act targeting gay people, targeting Jews, targeting

Muslims, targeting Sikhs, whether such a thing is driven just by

hatred or whether there is a strong intention to change policy

watercourse. Often, and to motives intertwine. Sometimes they don't.

That is why I say it is a thin line. If you break down what the two are,

there is not a clear division between terrorism and it crimes.

Even though that might be in the minds of the public and their

reaction to this attack. Watmore are you hearing about the state of this

investigation? The key thing is what is being reported now by news

outlets. The claim of a 911 call in which the shooter pledged allegiance

to the Islamic State. There seem to be several sources on that although

I am cautious about whether there might be circular reporting. If

there is a 911 call, they get recorded, so there should be very

strong digital evidence that should be readily accessible to

authorities. If so, that makes at least part of this motivation

extraordinarily clear. The next step will then be looking at whether he

was just inspired by the organisation or whether he had a

proper connections to the network. I have been looking at Charter from

the Islamic State and their supporters and they are picking up

on this attack, though there is no smoking gun that this organisation

knew an attack like this was coming down in advance. They could be

picking up on this attack to claim it after it happened, even if they

didn't know it would have bought were not involved, it is something

they would want to talk about. Thank you very much. We will have more fun

here in Washington shortly. You are watching BBC News and are continuing

coverage of the shootings in Orlando, Florida. 50 people are now

known to have been killed in a gun attack on a nightclub. The deadliest

mass shooting in order and yes history. The shocking sound of rapid

gunfire echoed through the Orlando Street, recorded by witnesses who

feared the worst. Dozens managed to flee the popular gay nightclub, but

still worried about those they had left behind. We were hearing the

Jalisco constantly. You Kunduz think of yourself and then help others and

that is what I did. When I knew I was safe and the guns were still go

on and the police were single, go, I had no choice but to help the people

who shot. One mother got a text from her son pleading for help as he was

trapped inside. He told her he loved her and feared he would die. Others

were distraught, desperate for news. I don't know where my son is, no one

can tell me where my son is. If he has been shot, if he is dead. No one

knows. They told me there are fatalities. As police responded the

attacker held hostages for three hours. Police say he had an assault

rifle, a handgun and some sort of explosive device. Special SWAT teams

rescued 30 people, but inside, they found the scene of utter

devastation. Just to look into the eyes of our officers told the whole

story. You could tell they were all shaken by this incident, by what

they saw inside the club. They did an unbelievable job, courageous

efforts in rescuing many, many hostages. This is now being

investigated identified as Omar Mateen, the FBI says it is trying to

establish if he had links to Islamic groups. The shooting confirms one of

the worst fears in the country. We don't wish this on anybody else and

we hope this will be the last of the mass shootings that our country has

been going through. I think, as a nation, we need to look at this

issue of mass shootings because we just had one too many today. This is

the deadliest mass shooting in American history at a place young

people came to party. A state of emergency has been declared in

Orlando and, as the investigation continues, the police are urging

calm until they know more and are clear about emotive. I want to print

more on this story, so we live glad to Julie Solomon, a local news

reporter in Florida. She joined us on the phone. We were talking

yesterday because there was a shooting in Orlando, a young singer.

Orlando must be heartbroken given the fact that now a second shooting

has happened, this is the worst in modern US history. Well, I can tell

you, when I went to sleep last night, it was hard to shake the

first story I covered, the tragic death of that US singer who was

loved by her fans and then, when I went to sleep I never thought

anything like this would happen. I got the call very early to come in

this morning and we were getting reports of a mass shooting but I

never thought it would be the worst shooting in US history with at least

50 people dead, at least 53 people hospitalised is the latest number we

have got here. The young singer was shot on Friday night. And

indications from the authorities if these two shootings are related in

any way? That is something I asked the police chief straight up and he

said no, not at all. They are: this latest shooting today with the mass

casualties and act of terrorism, whether it be domestic or

international, that is something the FBI are looking into but the chief

made it clear that the two are not related, just unfortunately a very

sad weekend for us here in Orlando. The singer was shot while signing

autographs in front of many of her fans, this shooting at a nightclub,

lots of people involved, you have been to the Pulse nightclub, what

have people been telling you? I spoke to a woman this morning who

said she could not reach a daughter, her daughter was about 18 years old,

she was shot in the hand, she was shot and bleeding. That mother could

not get in touch with her daughter and I spoke with a man who said he

was inside the club, he was wearing his wristband, he managed to crawl

out that he spoke about how hostages were in the bathroom and how people

were attracted barricade themselves in the bathroom to get away from the

gunman and the said there was a lot of screaming going on in the

nightclub and somehow, luckily, he managed to get out. We have been

learning more about the suspect. What have you learned from what

police have been telling you about him? Right now they are pretty much

keeping tight-lipped about the suspect. At the last press

conference they would not officially confirm his name. A US senator, a

politician, Bill Nelson, he spoke with us and he said it appeared the

suspect had ties to Islamic radicalism but, again, he used the

word appeared. This is something they are looking into. They pointed

out this individual did not live in Orlando, he travelled to Orlando to

commit this horrible crime. What is the atmosphere in Orlando as you

have been experiencing it? Another of support on Facebook, everyone is

posting on Facebook and Twitter. It is similar to the Boston attacks

when they used the term Boston strong. We didn't know what to

expect when we arrived on scene. We saw flashing lights, ambulances

going back between the hospital and people lingering wondering where

loved ones where is the waited to figure out if they hear from their

loved ones or the daughters of brothers or sisters and now it is

not a calmer atmosphere but it is wait and see, what is next? As we

wait for the updates, I was out in the area where officials are given

updates throughout the morning and from where I was at, I could see the

nightclub and still dozens and dozens of law enforcement agencies

from around Central Florida out in front of the nightclub. Do we know

any more about the victims of this terrible assiduity? Right now, they

said they are reaching out to the victims. They put out a hotline

number that family members could call, eight number they could call

to get information on the victims. Here we have what is known... It was

difficult for loved ones to get information at one point but they

waved but to make it easier for a mother to get information on her

daughter because they have strict policies at the hospital and they

with some of that so family members can get information more quickly.

For now, Julie Solomon, thank you very much for being with this on BBC

News. Well, and Orlando city commissioner, Paddy Sheehan, has

delivered this statement on behalf of the LGBT community in the city.

We, as a gay community, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual

community are people who love and if you think you will start at the

heart of us by doing this horrible, violent act, you are not. We love,

we are resilient, we will show you in the face of this that we will

have people lined up at blood banks, the will show you the good part of

humanity, not the bad, horrible part. You cannot get the message

across by killing people, you are thugs and murderers and people

surely we are a better community and the Americans than this. The

candidates running for the US presidency have been reacting to the

shooting. Donald Trump tweeted, really bad shooting in Orlando.

Police investigating possible terrorism. Many people dead and

wounded. Hillary Clinton has added, will opt to hear the devastating

news from Florida as we wait for more information, my thoughts are

with those affected by this horrible act. Bernie Sanders has also been

speaking. It is horrific, it is unthinkable and our hopes go out to

those who were that they recover. I have to tell you, 25 years ago I

believed that in this country we should not be selling automatic

weapons which are designed to kill people. We have to do everything we

can on top of that to make sure that guns do not fall into the hands of

people who should not have them, criminals and people who are

mentally ill. That struggle continues. Back to Washington. The

FBI investigating this as terrorism. We don't know if it is domestic or

international at this stage. No. The period of this month Barda said of

President Obama has said there is no known motive yet. American networks

reporting that the project is the his allegiance ate lots of different

issues. We will bring you more when we get more details. This is a time

when speculation, the job and I think it is to what we know the

facts are in this case than the assumptions that night the President

APPLAUSE Speech was so short in the judgment

on the motives there Trump... Donald Trump said when will we get

tough, smart and vigilant? Earlier I spoke to our correspondent in

Orlando and was near the shooting, a couple of blocks from the shooting.

There is a state of emergency here and a police investigation which

continues. Many of the victims are still unidentified to local agencies

here are urging people to call their heartland, to get in touch with them

and, as you can hear, above me are a number of police helicopters.

Understandably, a huge police presence here in a city that now has

a state of emergency. There have been calls for people to give blood,

what has the response been and what do we know about the status of the

people injured and in hospital? On the local radio station, as I was

travelling here in a taxi, I heard people talking about the blood

donations. I heard people saying there are a very long queues of

people donating blood at nearby blood banks. I have had to confront

this but I heard as well on local radio that they have lifted a ban on

gay people donating blood which, from what they were sent on local

radio, has been in place. That has been lifted. Anyone can give blood

in Orlando and, as you have been talking about, as well as the 15 to

have lost their lives in this attack, there are more than 50 who

are injured. I should just say that we are getting reports from Islamic

State newsagency, they are claiming the Orlando attack, they say it is

carried out by an Islamic State fighter. He carried out the shooting

was thought that claim coming to us from the Islamic State newsagency.

No verification of that yet but just telling you what they are saying.

President Obama addressed the American public for the 13th time

after a mass shooting during the course of this presidency just if

you moments ago. Today, as Americans, we grieve the brutal

murder, the horrific massacre, of dozens of innocent people. We pray

for their families who are grasping for answers with broken hearts. We

stand with the people of Orlando who have insured a terrible attack on

their city. Although it is still early in the investigation, we know

enough to say this was an act of terror and an active yet. As

Americans, we are united in grief, in average and in resolve to defend

our people. I just finished a meeting with the FBI director and my

homeland security and national security advisers. The FBI is on the

scene and leading the investigation with local law enforcement. I have

directed that the full resources of the federal government made

available for this investigation. We are still learning all the facts.

This is an open investigation. We have reached no definitive judgment

on the precise motivations of the killer. The FBI is appropriately

investigating this as an act of terrorism and I have directed that

we must spare no effort to determine what, if any, inspiration or

association this killer might have had with terrorist groups. What is

clear is that he was a person filled with hatred. Over the coming days

will uncover why and how this happened and we will go where ever

the facts the bus. This morning I spoke with my good friend, the

Orlando Mayor, I conveyed to him the deepest condolences of the American

people. This could have been any one of our communities so I told the

mayor that whatever help he and the people of Orlando need, they are

going to get it. As a country we will be there for the people of

Orlando today, tomorrow and for all the days to come. We also express

our profound gratitude to all the police and first responders who

rushed into harms way. Their courage and professionalism saved lives.

They kept the carnage from being even worse. It is the kind of

sacrifice our law enforcement professionals make every single day

for all of us and we can never thank them enough. This is an especially

heartbreaking day for all of our friends, our fellow Americans who

are lesbian, gay, asexual, transgender. The sugar targeted a

nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance and to

sing and to live. The place they attack was more than a nightclub, it

was a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come

together to raise awareness, to speak their minds and to advocate

for the civil rights. This is a sobering reminder that on any

American, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual

orientation is an attack of all of us. An attack on the fundamental

values of equality and dignity that define us as a country. No act of

heat or terror will ever change who we car or the values that make us

Americans. Today marks the most deadly shooting in American history.

The shooter was apparently armed with a handgun and a powerful

assault rifle. This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how

easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them

shoot people in a screw or in a house of worship or a movie theatre

or in a nightclub. We have to decide if that is the kind of country we

want to be. To actively doing In the coming hours and days,

we will learn about the victims Their names, their faces,

who they were, joy they brought The difference that they

made in this world. May God give them the strength

to bear the unbearable. May he give us all the strength

to be there for them and the strength and

courage to change. We need to demonstrate

that we are defined more as a country by the way

they lived their lives than by the hate of the man

who took them from us. As we go together, we will draw

inspiration from heroic and selfless acts, friends who helped friends,

took care of each other In the face of hate and violence,

we will love one another. We will not give in to fear or turn

against each other - instead we will stand united as Americans

to protect our people and defend our nation

and take action against May God bless the Americans

lost this morning, comfort their families,

may God continue to watch over President Obama with a sober

addressed to the American public after the shooting in Orlando in

which 50 people have been killed. 53 more are in critical condition in

hospital. He reached out to the LGBT community and talked about this as

an attack on anyone being an attack on all of us in the US and a

reminder of how easy it is to get weapons and shoot people in those

school, a cinema, a nightclub, a reference to previous times he has

had to address the American public after a mass shooting. This makes

13. Reggie is live now in Orlando. What is happening now in terms of

security? I have moved from when we last spoke and I am outside the

hospital. You can see the urgency sign and this is where more than 50

people are being treated and earlier we got an app it from the hospital

say six trauma surgeons had been operating on a number of victims in

a critical condition. We are waiting for an update on the status of the

more than 50 people who are being treated and we know around 50 people

lost their lives in that shooting. There is a state of emergency in

Orlando, we expect regular up dates from the local authorities, they are

promising to give us up dates every few hours, I have not seen this

first hand but we have seen reports when we spoke to people here and on

local radio about long queues at the banks. Many people here want to do

something to help in the wake of a tragedy and they think one way they

can help is by donating loud so there have been long queues, people

donating blood, and there was a ban on gay people donating blood in

Orlando at that has now been lifted so anyone can come forward and help.

The White House has also ordered that hospitals are allowed to speak

to family members to give them information on the condition of the

injured, that is a lifting of restrictions in place in America.

Two, described Orlando to our viewers around the world. Many of

them will have travelled there, it is a big city and there were several

medical facilities. How are they coping with what has happened

overnight? I did have any more about how the art coping beyond what we

were told that six trauma surgeons working hard to treat all those

patients and we do not have an update on their condition but in

answer to your other points, or Orlando is a place that many people

in outside have visited. It is a popular destination for young

families because Disney and universal studios are here and other

attractions which draw people from all over the world, not just the UK

but India and Asia, so people are familiar with Orlando and it

attracts a lot of families in terms of visitors and the people who live

here. We heard a few of go from a member of the Islamic community who

also the next gun violence as well as saying the whole community needs

to come together. We have had a similar message from the Mayor

because now is a time for a people to unite and try to help the

families. It is worth noting from the last lease up, not all the

victims have been identified, so there are still a number of another

defied victims, and this is not just a tragedy for or land though and

America but there were still many people who face a very personal

tragedy. What we are hearing from some family members, just

heartbreaking. Anybody who has children and is worried about what

has happened to their loved ones. Can you give us any updates from

officials? We expect an update any time soon. It was meant to be about

the time the president spoke and then it was moved, there will be an

update soon, hopefully that will be from the Mayor, FBI and health

officials, and they promised earlier that we would get up its. They have

moved the location from where they were giving the updates so they may

have started but I will keep across anything that comes out of that. And

we will bring you all the coverage from security officials, the latest

as soon as we get it. Rajini, thank you very much. That is it from

Washington, back to you. Let's recap our main news this art.

50 people have been shot dead at a nightclub in Orlando, making this

the worst mass shooting in modern US history, another 53 people are

injured, some of them and a critical condition. Authorities have

identified who they believed carried out the shootings. He was Omar

Mateen, a 29-year-old Florida resident, a US citizen of Afghan

descent. His father has apologised to the vet is. Supporters of the

Islamic State group have praised the attack on social idea. Omar Mateen

used an assault rifle to carry out the shootings. With me is our

security correspondent, Gordon Carroll. The Islamic State news

agency has claimed responsibility, how credible is this? It is this

semi official news agency for so-called Islamic State so there

messages take quite a high degree of credence. They said a fighter linked

to IS carried out the attack, so they claim they were involved in

some way but what is not clear is whether they are merely saying this

because the individual athlete in themselves. Omar Mateen said he

wanted to be part of IS, or whether there is a connection between the

group and this individual. We don't know if he had any direct contact

with them or whether he was trained by them with any indication or if he

was self starting, self radicalised and then declared his allegiance and

IS are now accept that and taking credit for what he did. Those are

two possibilities and it is not clear which we are looking at.

President R Balmer said this is an act of terror and a hate crime as

well. How will police and that Daugherty 's -- authorities go about

trying to establish what happened? How far they can unravel these

motivations, either hosting is on social media or indications from

witnesses about what was motivating him, any evidence on his computers

and his dater trail about linking to the group and having contact with

them as opposed to just following their messages? Those are the things

the authority will be doing, using police and F EIA interviews and the

like. What do you make of what the authorities have been saying so far?

They have been cautious to jump to conclusions John Cena this is an act

of terror in some form but the exact length of the individual are hard to

be sure about, but we seem to get more reports that he called 911

during the attack to allege allegiance, which seems to quickly

shift us towards a certain direction in terms of his motivation, so that

will be the way the authorities investigated, to try to establish

how clear that his. Could this be an opportunistic claim by Islamic

State? It is possible they have no direct connection with him, they had

never heard of him before but because he has declared his

allegiance, if that is true, they have taken credit, because that is a

strategy they pursue. If you look at the leadership of IS, their

spokesperson calls on people to carry out attacks, do not wait for

instruction, so this is one of their ways of working, and if you look at

the Paris attacks, they also send people out and organise attacks that

they also call on people to self start, so those are the two possible

scenarios and at the moment it is probably edging more towards the

self starting but we cannot be sure of this, the statement does not

prove one way or another. My colleague Tom Duncan has been

speaking to one Rivera, who was in the nightclub when the shooting

happened. He told him what he saw. We started hearing the shooting

after hours, we heard this shooting We heard it with the cop

outside and the shooter. Once he gets inside he is blocking

the exit and nobody I couldn't get a good look

at his face but we heard loud It was about 30 shots from what we

heard. After that the lights were off

and we couldn't see anything so we had blood everywhere,

people on the floor and we jumped the fence and once we were outside

the cops were surrounding the whole building, the helicopter

was on top of the building. The cops wouldn't let other people

leave and it wasn't until 5am when the shooter finally got shot

and people were hiding When you got out with your life,

what were you told? Once we were outside, once I jumped

the fence, we were with the cops. The block was surrounded by cops

and they wouldn't let us leave because they wanted to question us

about who the shooter was, but it wasn't until 5am that we left

and the shooter was caught and people were saved

from the inside, but he killed a lot of people while he was inside

holding those people hostage and people were hiding

in the dressing rooms. Have there been incidences

of violence in your time? Give us a sense in terms of when the

violence started, would you given any warning? Was anything said? The

only warning for us was at two a.m., once we heard those loud shootings

outside, we knew everybody was up and everybody was either on the

floor or running to the exit. I ran out with my friend

and he was at the front exit blocking everybody,

people were trying to jump on top of him and get through the back

and that is where the lights went out and there was blood everywhere

and everyone was panicking. To recap on our main story, 50 Nepal

have been shot dead at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, making this the

worst mass shooting in modern American history. 53 people aren't

hospital with injuries, some in a critical condition. American media

have identified the man is a US citizen, Omar Mateen, the US TV

network NBC News says he called the emergency helpline before the

shooting and swore allegiance to the Islamic State group. The 29-year-old

had a handgun when he opened fire at the Pulse nightclub, a gay nightclub

in Orlando, that was in the early hours of Saturday night. You are

watching a BBC News special.