errorist Omar Mateen shot dead 50 people and wounded at least 53 more during the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in the early hours of Sunday morning – and called 911 just before the attack to pledge allegiance to ISIS.
Mateen, 29, of Port St. Lucie in Florida, reportedly laughed as he sprayed bullets into the crowded club before he was shot dead by a SWAT team several hours after launching his horrific massacre with a legally bought assault rifle and pistol.
Although US officials do not know if the attack was directed by ISIS, Mateen was inspired by the terror group and has been investigated by the FBI twice over his suspected terror links. He also attended the same Mosque as an American suicide bomber.
ISIS’s Amaq news agency said the terror group was responsible for the shooting and says Mateen was one of its fighters. During the attack, Mateen also referenced the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, a Massachusetts State Police spokesman said on Sunday.
Donald Trump called for President Barack Obama to resign after he did not blame radical Islam for the attack in his remarks following the shooting, referring to it instead as an ‘act of terror’ and an ‘act of hate.’
Trump also congratulated himself, saying that he ‘called it’ when he touted a ban on all Muslim immigrants entering the United States in the wake of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, in December last year – despite the fact that Mateen was an American citizen.
Mateen, who has a wife and young son, has been described as a ‘mentally ill’ loner who beat his ex-wife for not completing household chores and became enraged when he saw two men kissing months before launching his attack.
So far, only ten victims have been officially identified by the city of Orlando on its website.
They are: Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34; Stanley Almodovar III, 23; Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20; Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22; Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36; Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22; Luis S. Vielma, 22, Kimberly Morris, 37, Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30, and Darryl Roman Burt II, 29.
Shortly after making the 911 call, Mateen entered the crowded nightclub at around 2am carrying an AR-15 and started spraying the helpless crowd with bullets.
Witnesses said he fired relentlessly – 20 rounds, 40, then 50 and more. In such tight quarters, the bullets could hardly miss. He shot at police. He took hostages. Around 5am, authorities sent in a SWAT team to rescue them, Police Chief John Mina said.
The shooter exchanged gunfire with 14 police officers at the club, which had more than 300 people inside.
‘He had an automatic rifle, so nobody stood a chance,’ said Jackie Smith, who had two friends next to her get shot. ‘I just tried to get out of there.’
When the gunfire finally stopped, 50 were dead and dozens critically wounded. Thirty-nine of the dead were killed at the club, and 11 people died at hospitals, the mayor said.
Early on Sunday, Mina Justice was outside the club trying to contact her son, Eddie, who texted her when the shooting happened and asked her to call police.
He told her he ran into a bathroom with other club patrons to hide. He then texted her: ‘He’s coming.’ The next text said: ‘He has us, and he’s in here with us,” she said. ‘That was the last conversation.’
In the early hours of Monday morning, Eddie Justice was confirmed dead.
The first of the victims named was Edward Sotomayor, who worked as the national brand manager for ALandChuck Travel, a company that specialized in vacations for the gay community.
His boss, Al Ferguson, said Sotomayor’s partner was outside the nightclub putting something in the car when the shots rang out.
He got a text from Sotomayor telling him he was safe in the bathroom and not to come back into the club. Sotomayor texted again 20 minutes later to say he was OK. That was the last his partner heard from him, Ferguson said.
Sotomayor was a legend in the industry, Ferguson added. He booked tours for entertainer and drag queen RuPaul and put together the first gay cruise to Cuba last year. He was going to announce a second trip on Sunday, but was killed.
‘Anyone who booked gay cruises knew Sotomayor,’ Ferguson told Reuters. ‘He was a great man.’
In an Instagram post published on Sunday, RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage called Sotomayor ‘a joy.’
‘I loved you on so many levels. You were SO SO special and will never be forgotten,’ she wrote. ‘I promise you that.’
David Sotomayor, who lives in Chicago and identified himself as the victim’s cousin, described him as a caring, energetic man known for wearing a silly top hat on cruises.
The pair discovered they were related after meeting at Orlando’s annual Gay Days festival around a decade ago. They texted regularly and kept in touch, last seeing each other earlier this year at a filming of the television reality show ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’ David said.
David Sotomayor is a drag queen who appeared on a season of the show using the name ‘Jade.’
He said Edward Sotomayor supported him and often sent him Facebook messages. They last exchanged messages last week.
‘You never think that’s going to be the last time you speak to him,’ David Sotomayor said. ‘It’s just heartbreaking to know it just can happen anytime.’
Neighbors of Almodovar, a 23-year-old pharmacy technician, said his parents had recently moved back to Puerto Rico after his mother became ill with cancer, Reuters reported. He was the youngest in the family.
But his mother Rosalie Ramos, 51, had been in Orlando at the time of the shooting and paid tribute to her son, calling him a ‘happy man with a big heart.’
She revealed her panic after receiving a call that informed her that her son had been shot. ‘I was hoping maybe [he was shot in] the hand or the leg,’ she told the Orlando Sentinel. ‘You can survive [a gunshot to] the leg.’
But Almodovar was shot three times, in the chest, stomach and side of his body. He died at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Sabiel Rivera, 30, who is a neighbor of Almodovar in Clermont, Florida, told Daily Mail Online that he ‘was a cool guy, who was very humble and never got into any trouble.’
It is believed he shared a top floor apartment with his mother.
Originally from Springfield, Massachusetts, he was living in Clermont, according to his Facebook page, which has been flooded by friends paying tribute in the aftermath of the tragedy.
‘Rest in peace my friend, wrote Brian Garcia. ‘You were always so full of joy Stanley, we will miss you buddy.’
Mark Nielson added: ‘We’ll miss you Stanley. You made an impact on everyone that you came around. A good person and friend.’
He graduated from East Ridge High School in Clermont in 2011 before studying at Anthem College, his family said.
Guerrero was so concerned about how his family would react to his sexuality that he only came out to his parents at the beginning of this year, his cousin Robert Guerrero told CBS News.
When he did, they were ‘very accepting,’ the 19-year-old said. ‘As long as he was happy, they were OK with it.’ He was in a relationship with someone that his relatives came to see as a member of the family, he said.
Robert Guerrero said he began to worry about his cousin, who worked as a telemarketer and was a student at the University of Central Florida, when he heard about the shooting at a club he knew Guerrero sometimes visited. Later in the day, his worst fears were realized.
‘He was always this amazing person and he was like a big brother to me,’ he said. ‘He was never the type to go out to parties, would rather stay home and care for his niece and nephew.’
Friends and family have paid to Guerrero on his Instagram page, calling him a ‘beautiful soul.’
‘So unfair what happened to you. RIP. I hope the light will rule out all darkness,’ said one comment.
Friends and family paid tribute to Capo on Facebook, who they called ‘Omar’ in tributes.
His aunt Carla Ocasio called him her ‘dear nephew’ and shared a photo of the 20-year-old that said ‘dance freely in the heavens.’
Another family member Robert said: ‘God bless us all and give us strength in our time of need. Lord guide us with your light so we don’t live in fear of the darkness evil brings.’
Claudia Mason said that she worked with Capo at Target in Kissimmee, Buzzfeed reported.
‘He lit up any area he worked in, especially Starbucks,’ she wrote. ‘So sad that his life was cut so short by such an evil person.’
Eric Ortiz-Rivera was a ‘goofball’ who loved to dance and had been married to his husband for around a year, his cousin Orlando Gonazalez, 26, told the New York Times.
Ortiz-Rivera, who was originally from Dorado, Puerto Rico, studied at the Univercidad Central de Bayamon there, his Facebook page said.
Before his death, Ortiz-Rivera, who was nicknamed Shaki, lived in downtown Orlando with his husband and worked at a Party City and a Sunglass Hut.
But he had other interests, Gonzalez said, describing his late cousin as ‘artistic’ and a talented hairdresser.
‘We always went to clubs together,’ Gonzalez said, adding that Ortiz-River liked house music, or ‘anything he could dance to, pretty much.’
‘His husband called me in the morning,’ Gonzalez told The Times. ‘He was hysterical trying to find him.’
A friend paid tribute to him on Facebook, writing: ‘I have no words to describe this great friend and human being, and above all, my brother. Everyone who knows us knows what a great friendship we shared and what a great man he was. I adore you. You’ll always be in my heart. How empty you’ve left us.’
Another victim, Gonzalez-Cruz, 22, worked at UPS and lived in Orlando, Florida, according to his Facebook page.
Friends and family mourned his death online, with one friend writing: ‘A great person with a beautiful smile. I will always remember you, friend.’
In a Facebook post, his mother thanked everyone for their condolences.
‘I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the love that you have shown me regarding my son,’ she wrote. ‘I will keep you informed. As a mother, I feel a deep and immense pain as everyone else who’s going through this.’
Vielma was a student at Seminole State College of Florida and worked at Universal Orlando as a production assistant on the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride, according to his Facebook page.
‘Can’t believe Luis Vielma is really gone…you always wondering why it is the greatest people that leave, wrote Jaime Bustos. ‘RIP my friend. Your memories, jokes, laughter, and personality well never be forgotten. Always meant to catch up with you but… it seems that moment has passed.’
Theresa Perpetua Rivera, of Deltona, Florida, said she knew Vielma through through her church’s youth group ministry.
‘My heart is so saddened by all the hate and horrible violence that has been going on in the world and now right here in our own backyard,’ she wrote on Facebook. ‘Today we lost an amazing young man who had the heart and the spirit of an Angel. He was such a blessing to those who knew him.’
Kimberly Morris, who was known as ‘KJ’, was also identified as a victim of the shooting. Morris, who is from Torrington, Connecticut, and had previously lived in Massachusetts before moving to Orlando, had been working as a bouncer at Pulse on the night of the shooting.
Before she was confirmed dead, Nelson Roman, an LGBT leader in Holyoke, Massachusetts, told Western Mass News: ‘She used to perform out here, was a bouncer who was working last night, and we still have no info on her.’
Friends and family took to Morris’ Facebook page, urging her to contact them before receiving the news. She was from Torrington, Connecticut, but lived in Orlando.
‘Unfortunately I just received news that Kim did not make it,’ Patrick Tyning wrote. ‘R.I.P. Kim , I haven’t seen you in a couple of years but had the pleasure of working with you and we had some great times. You were taken way too soon.’
‘I’m broken,’ added Ana DeJesus Decker. ‘What a wonderful person I had the pleasure of knowing in my younger years. Loved her like a little sister.’
Marissa Delgado, who lives in a building near Almodovar, suffered critical injuries and remains in hospital after the shooting.
Her co- workers expressed their shock to Daily Mail Online.
Davonte Phillips, 19, who works with Delgado at the local Circle K gas station near their apartment buildings, said that she had been shot six times.
Jenny Vergara, who also works at the gas station, said that they had been informed Marissa had lost a lot of blood and wouldn’t be coming into work for a while.
Theresa Perpetua Rivera, of Deltona, Florida, said she knew Vielma through through her church’s youth group ministry.
‘My heart is so saddened by all the hate and horrible violence that has been going on in the world and now right here in our own backyard,’ she wrote on Facebook. ‘Today we lost an amazing young man who had the heart and the spirit of an Angel. He was such a blessing to those who knew him.’
Kimberly Morris, who was known as ‘KJ’, was also identified as a victim of the shooting. Morris, who is from Torrington, Connecticut, and had previously lived in Massachusetts before moving to Orlando, had been working as a bouncer at Pulse on the night of the shooting.
Before she was confirmed dead, Nelson Roman, an LGBT leader in Holyoke, Massachusetts, told Western Mass News: ‘She used to perform out here, was a bouncer who was working last night, and we still have no info on her.’
Friends and family took to Morris’ Facebook page, urging her to contact them before receiving the news. She was from Torrington, Connecticut, but lived in Orlando.
‘Unfortunately I just received news that Kim did not make it,’ Patrick Tyning wrote. ‘R.I.P. Kim , I haven’t seen you in a couple of years but had the pleasure of working with you and we had some great times. You were taken way too soon.’
‘I’m broken,’ added Ana DeJesus Decker. ‘What a wonderful person I had the pleasure of knowing in my younger years. Loved her like a little sister.’
Marissa Delgado, who lives in a building near Almodovar, suffered critical injuries and remains in hospital after the shooting.
Her co- workers expressed their shock to Daily Mail Online.
Davonte Phillips, 19, who works with Delgado at the local Circle K gas station near their apartment buildings, said that she had been shot six times.
Jenny Vergara, who also works at the gas station, said that they had been informed Marissa had lost a lot of blood and wouldn’t be coming into work for a while.
Authorities were investigating the attack on the Florida dance club as an act of terrorism. The shooter called 911 shortly before the attack and referenced ISIS, FBI agent Ronald Hopper said.
He was stopped by hero officers, who used a ‘controlled explosion’ to distract Mateen before fatally shooting him and rescuing about 30 hostages who were hiding in the bathroom of the club. During the gunfire, an officer was shot, but he was saved by his helmet.
At a news conference on Sunday, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said: ‘Many were saved by the heroic efforts of the men and women of the OPD, the Orange County Sheriffs, Seminal County Sheriff’s office.’
Pulse initially posted on its own Facebook page: ‘Everyone get out of Pulse and keep running.’
Just before 6am, the club posted an update: ‘As soon as we have any information, we will update everyone. Please keep everyone in your prayers as we work through this tragic event. Thank you for your thoughts and love.’
In addition to the assault rifle, the shooter also had some sort of ‘suspicious device,’ the police chief said.
At first, officers mistakenly thought the gunman had strapped explosives to the dead and that the club was booby-trapped. A bomb robot sent back images of a battery part next to a body, Dyer said.
That prevented paramedics from going in until authorities determined the battery was something that fell out of an exit sign or a smoke detector.
The robot was sent in after SWAT team members put explosive charges on a wall and an armored vehicle knocked the wall down in an effort to rescue hostages.
At around 6am local time police tweeted: ‘Pulse Shooting: The shooter inside the club is dead.’ In total, 39 people were killed inside the club, two outside, and nine others died after being rushed to hospital.
