At Least 50 Dead in Orlando Nightclub Shooting, Mayor Says

Shooting being investigated as a terrorist act

Jermaine Towns, left, and Brandon Shuford wait down the street from a multiple shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, June 12, 2016. Towns said his brother was in the club at the time. A gunman opened fire at a nightclub in central Florida, and multiple people have been wounded, police said Sunday. AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

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At least 50 people were shot and killed at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, early on Sunday morning, according to officials.

The mayor of Orlando says there were 50 casualties and there are 53 more hospitalized, AP reported.

“There’s blood everywhere,” Mayor Buddy Dyer said Sunday, describing it as the “worst mass shooting in U.S. history,” News6 reported. 

“Everybody was just running out through the back (of the club),” a witness told News

The mayor said that the shooter was armed with an assault rifle and other weapons. Officials said he may have had a device strapped to himself.

Earlier in the day, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson identified the shooter as Omar Mateen of Port St. Lucie, Florida.

He cited law enforcement officials when he was speaking to reporters, according to AP.

Family members wait for word from police after arriving down the street from a shooting involving multiple fatalities at Pulse Orlando nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, June 12, 2016. AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack