At Least 50 Killed in Orlando Terror Attack

The Shooting

A gunman killed at least 50 people early Sunday morning, injuring more, at a gay nightclub in the Orlando area. Officials are treating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism.

The shooting, the deadliest in U.S. history, happened around 2 a.m., according to the Orlando Police Department. The shooter exchanged fire with an off-duty police officer working security at the Pulse Orlando nightclub, before storming the building with an assault rifle and a handgun, said Orlando Police Chief John Mina in a news conference.

At around 5 a.m., a SWAT team raided the building using controlled explosives and an armored vehicle to save hostages trapped inside, said Mina. The shooter, identified as an American citizen living in the Fort Pierce area, was killed after a shootout with the SWAT team, according to Mina. Local hospitals were placed on lockdown following the incident for security reasons.

An assistant agent in charge of the the F.B.I.’s Tampa Division, Ronald Hopper, said there is possibility the shooter had ties to Islamic extremism.

“We do have suggestions that the individual may have leanings towards that, that particular ideology,” said Hopper at a news conference. “But right now we can’t say definitively, so we’re still running everything around.”

Federal officials said they have no indication the shooter belonged to a particular organization, but have not ruled out a “lone-wolf” scenario in which he acted on certain beliefs.

UNF Support

The UNF Counseling Center has a 24/7 hotline available at 904-620-2602, extension two. The center will open at 8 a.m. on Monday and accept walk-in appointments. Additionally, the UNF LGBT Resource Center be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday for students in need of emotional support and staffed with a counselor from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the center’s Assistant Director Kaitlin Legg.

There will be a candlelight vigil at Riverside’s Memorial Park at 7 p.m. Sunday. The park is located at 1620 Riverside Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32204. Attendees are encouraged to bring candles, including any extras they might have.

Orlando officials have cited an urgent need for blood donations — specifically Type O negative, Type O positive and Type AB. Following is a list of Jacksonville donation centers, many centers are closed Sundays, so please call before arriving.

• 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM South Jacksonville Donor Center 8013 Beach Blvd. Jacksonville, FL 32216

• 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM St. Mark’s Lutheran Church – Bloodmobile 3976 Hendricks Avenue Jacksonville, FL 32207

• 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM West Jacksonville Donor Center 5209 Blanding Blvd. Jacksonville, FL 32210

• 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM Orange Park Donor center 2153 Kingsley ave. Orange Park, FL 32073

• 8:30 AM – 1:00 PM Fruit Cove Baptist Church – Bloodmobile 501 State Road 13 Fruit Cove, FL 32259

• 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM Publix at Deerwood Village – Bloodmobile 9964 Old Baymeadows Road Jacksonville, FL 32256

• 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM Regal Cinemas The Avenues 20 – Bloodmobile 9525 Philips Highway Jacksonville, FL 32256

This article was originally published by Spinnaker.

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