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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Lizzie Dearden

Orlando shooting live: Isis hails Omar Mateen as 'soldier of the Caliphate' after 50 killed at nightclub - latest updates

A man has killed 50 people at a gay nightclub after pledging allegiance to Isis in the deadliest mass shooting in US history. Here are the latest updates:

 

 

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Police killed the gunman at the scene of the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in the centre of Orlando after he called 911 and pledged allegiance to Isis.

Omar Mateen, 29, was born in New York to parents from Afghanistan and had been questioned by the FBI twice in years.

Around 350 people were in the Pulse nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning when he opened fire with an assault rifle and handgun, killing 50 people and wounding 53.

Authorities have cautioned that despite Isis’ claims that Mateen was a “fighter” for its group, there was no immediate evidence of communication or links.

Working for the global security firm G4S during the past nine years, he was an armed guard for a gated retirement community in Florida, and had cleared two company background screenings.

“We know enough to say this was an act of terror, an act of hate,” Barack Obama said in a speech from the White House. “As Americans, we are united in grief, in outrage and in resolve to defend our people.”

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