ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on the deadly shooting at a nightclub in Orlando. (all times local):
7:45 a.m.
Officials say they don’t yet know if anyone will be charged in the massacre that left 50 dead at a gay Florida club.
U.S. Attorney Lee Bentley said at a Monday morning news conference that officials have been collecting electronic and physical evidence as part of the ongoing investigation.
He says, “We don’t know if anyone else will be charged.” He adds that officials don’t believe there is a threat of imminent danger to the public.
Shooter Omar Mateen was killed in the early Sunday incident. Officials say he killed 49 people.
The FBI says a total of 50 people were left dead, including Mateen.
___
7:40 a.m.
Officials are giving more details about the law enforcement response to a mass shooting that left 50 dead at a gay Florida nightclub.
The officials spoke at a Monday morning news conference. Orlando police Chief John Mina says an extra officer was working at the Pulse nightclub in full uniform. The officer engaged with the shooter near an entrance. Additional officers entered, and engaged the suspect in another gunbattle. The shooter retreated to the bathroom.
Mina says, “At that time we were able to save and rescue dozens and dozens of people and get them out of the club.”
Officers then secured everything, and the SWAT team was brought in. Mina says officers then set up for an explosive breach on the bathroom wall. Mina says he made the decision to breach the wall, which created a hole through which dozens of clubgoers were rescued. Then the suspect exited through the same hole, and engaged in another gunbattle with officers. Shooter Omar Mateen was then killed.
___
7:30 a.m.
Officials say that families of 24 of the victims from the massacre at a Florida nightclub have been notified.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer described the progress at a Monday morning news conference. He says that by 11 p.m. Sunday, all bodies of victims had been turned over to medical examiner. The massacre early Sunday left 50 dead.
___
7:15 a.m.
A former Florida police officer who says he once worked with Orlando club shooter Omar Mateen described the 29-year-old as “unstable and unhinged.”
Daniel Gilroy told multiple news outlets that he worked with Mateen at the G45 security company. Gilroy called him an angry, loud, profane man who used slurs for gay people, blacks, Jews and women. Gilroy said Mateen also regularly made threats of violence.
Gilroy told The New York Times, “He talked about killing people all the time.” And Gilroy wasn’t surprised when he learned of the massacre: He said, “I saw it coming.”
Gilroy said Mateen started badgering him and sending dozens of text messages to him daily. Gilroy said he reported Mateen’s behavior to his bosses.
Gilroy says: “I kind of feel a little guilty that I didn’t fight harder. If I didn’t walk away and I fought, then maybe 50 people would still be alive today.”
__
6:05 a.m.
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling says one victim of the Orlando nightclub attack worked on the Harry Potter Ride at the Universal Studios theme park.
The author tweeted a picture of 22-year-old Luis Vielma in a Hogwarts school tie, and said: “I can’t stop crying.”
Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister David Cameron have sent messages of condolence from Britain for the attack, which killed 50 people at a gay nightclub.
Cameron said he was “horrified” by the shooting.
Buckingham Palace says the queen sent a message to President Barack Obama saying: “Prince Philip and I have been shocked by the events in Orlando. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected.”
___
5:50 a.m.
The Islamic State’s radio has called the Orlando mass shooter “one of the soldiers of the caliphate in America.”
Al-Bayan Radio, a media outlet for the IS extremist group, on Monday hailed the attack that left 50 people dead, saying it targeted a gathering of Christians and gays and that it’s the worst attack on U.S. soil since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Authorities say Omar Mateen opened fire with an AR-15 rifle at a gay nightclub early Sunday before being killed in a shootout with police. Another 53 people were wounded in the shooting.
The broadcast is apparently an opportunistic statement as IS has not officially claimed responsibility for the Orlando attack.
___
3:45 a.m.
Israel’s ceremonial president says the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando that killed 50 people and wounded dozens more is “as cowardly as it is abhorrent.”
In a letter to President Barack Obama, Reuven Rivlin says Monday that Israel stands “shoulder to shoulder with our American brothers and sisters” after the attack on the LGBT community.
He sent his condolences and said there is “no comfort for those who have had their loved ones torn away from them.”
The Orlando attack has dominated news in Israel, which has seen a wave of Palestinian attacks in recent months. On Wednesday two Palestinian gunmen killed four people at a popular shopping and restaurant area in Tel Aviv.
LGBT groups in Israel planned rallies and other support for the community in Orlando.
___
3 a.m.
Dozens of bodies were slowly removed overnight from a popular Orlando gay club after a gunman sprayed the helpless crowd with bullets in violence that killed 50 people and devastated a city famous for family-friendly theme parks.
When the attacker opened fire in the early hours of Sunday morning, it interrupted an evening of drinking, dancing and drag shows at a club known for tolerance for all people.
Authorities say suspect Omar Mateen emerged, carrying an AR-15 and 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.
When the gunfire at the Pulse Orlando club finally stopped, 50 people were dead and dozens critically wounded in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
