# data[].attributes.body
June 12th, 2016.

# data[].attributes.body
Pulse Nightclub, located in Orlando, Florida.

# data[].attributes.body
The owner of Pulse nightclub in Orlando announced plans Thursday to build a permanent memorial and museum on the building's grounds to honor the victims of the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Barbara Poma, who established Pulse as an LGBT club in 2004, said the OnePulse Foundation would raise funds to go toward a memorial, community grants for survivors' families, scholarships and a museum with artifacts and stories of that fatal day.

"We will not let hate win," said Poma, who founded Pulse to honor her brother, who died of HIV/AIDS in 1991. "We will ensure that no one of this generation and the generations to come will ever forget what happened here."

Thursday's announcement -- in front of the vacant club -- came almost 11 months after a gunman killed 49 people and injured dozens more, turning a late-night "Latin flavor" event into the scene of a deadly massacre. The shooter, Omar Mateen, was later killed by police.

The mass shooting brought an outpouring of support from around the world. Poma said Thursday the memorial would be part of a "healing initiative" for victims' families, survivors, and first responders.

Poma initially planned to sell the building to the city of Orlando to build a memorial on the site. However, she ultimately decided to lead the memorial construction herself and declined to sell to the city.

"I now know that my role is to ensure Pulse as a place of healing," she said.

Earl Crittenden, the chairman of the OnePulse Foundation, said the charity is accepting donations on its new website to build an "iconic, meaningful" monument.

He also announced the foundation's board of trustees, which includes business executives as well as pop star Lance Bass and former NBA player Jason Collins.

"We are all in this together, and we will not let hate win," Crittendon said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
orlando pulse nightclub plans permanent memorial

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Orlando Pulse nightclub plans 'iconic' memorial, museum

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Barbara Poma, who established Pulse as an LGBT club in 2004, said the OnePulse Foundation would raise funds to go toward a memorial, community grants for survivors' families, scholarships and a museum with artifacts and stories of that fatal day.

# data[].attributes.body
This isn’t about taking guns away from responsible, law-abiding people, this is about keeping them out of the hands of people who seek to do harm — to themselves, to others, and to our communities. When the forefathers of our great nation wrote the Second Amendment they never intended for guns to be in the hands of felons, terrorists or the mentally ill.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
CLOSE

How many more times do we have to see the words 'mass' and 'shooting' next to each other before we take action? How young do the victims have to be before we take action?

Since June 12, 2016, the hometown that I love, Orlando, has had to bear the unfortunate title of home to the Nation's deadliest mass shooting.

An Islamic State-inspired shooter went into a LGBTQ night club on " Latin Night " where people were gathering for what my bishop likes to call a late-night fellowship, and opened fire.

The people in the club didn't stand a chance against the man with an assault rifle and a handgun.

In a matter of minutes the gunman was able to kill 49 people and wound many others, plus shatter lives and leave a scar on our community and our hearts forever.

I served in law-enforcement for 27 years, four years of that as the Chief of Police for the Orlando Police Department. Before being elected to Congress I spent most of my adult life wearing a uniform, a badge and carrying a gun.

I took an oath to protect the innocent from dangerous people. Many say guns don't kill, but guns in the wrong hands do. As a law enforcement officer, I have seen more young victims of gun violence than I care to admit. I have also seen too many mothers, fathers and children who had to receive the bad news about their loved ones in the middle of the night.

This isn't about taking guns away from responsible, law-abiding people, this is about keeping them out of the hands of people who seek to do harm - to themselves, to others, and to our communities. When the forefathers of our great nation wrote the Second Amendment they never intended for guns to be in the hands of felons, terrorists or the mentally ill.

During the past six years it's been an uphill battle to see any change come from the mass shootings that have long-since become all too commonplace in our nation, from Sandy Hook to Aurora, to Virginia Tech, San Bernardino and Orlando.

This year, Congress overturned two regulations, thus making it easier for mentally ill individuals to purchase a firearm.

The first required the Social Security Administration to notify the FBI of individuals who are unable to work because of severe mental impairment and cannot manage their own Social Security financial benefits.

The second required the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to similarly notify the FBI of disabled individuals who have an appointed financial steward. This is so critical because each day, 20 veterans take their lives, and the majority use firearms. I know that responsible gun owners agree with common sense gun legislation.

While the gun lobby, manufacturers, President Trump and others may call these "midnight regulations" - rules passed in the waning days of a departing president - their history goes back a decade. In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting, the House and Senate unanimously passed the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, which required federal agencies to identify individuals who, under existing law, are prohibited from purchasing firearms. President George Bush signed it into law days later. Thank you, President Bush.

It's remarkable how far we have come - not forward, but backward.

After the attack at the London Bridge, the president tweeted this: "Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That's because they used knives and a truck!"

To the president, I say if these men had guns, the number of casualties and the carnage would have likely been significantly worse. And the man in Orlando who just last week went into his former employer's office in Orlando, had a gun and a knife. His weapon of choice was the gun. Guns in the wrong hands kill.

My first speech on the Floor of the House of Representatives, just days after being sworn-in, was not one I ever imagined I would have to give. I was honoring Orlando Police Master Sgt. Deborah Clayton, a friend and former co-worker, who was gunned down by a man who had just days before killed his pregnant ex-girlfriend. We lost 64 law enforcement officers to gun violence in 2016. That's unacceptable.

How many more times do we have to see the words "mass" and "shooting" next to each other before we take action? How young do the victims have to be before we take action? How high does the victim count have to go before we take action?

I fear the answer to those questions is that for some politicians there is no tragedy too great to find the political courage necessary to stand up to the gun lobby and protect Americans.

Congress is preparing to vote on two more pieces of gun legislation in the coming months. The first would make it easier to buy a silencer. A lot has changed in the 83 years since silencers were first regulated under the same law as machine guns, but criminal intent to evade capture has not.

​ ​P OLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, medIt

The next legislation would force states to recognize conceal carry permits across state lines, even when a state has no requirement. This gross affront to states' rights would allow domestic abusers, violent criminals and people untrained in even basic firearms safety to conceal a deadly weapon in every community in America. For law enforcement officers who must make split second decision when they encounter any armed individual, this is a particularly dangerous proposition.

As we reach the one-year mark since the Pulse massacre, the Orlando community continues to recover, but we are resilient. June 12, 2017 will be the day we come together for, " Orlando United - A Day of Love and Kindness."

Our community will be remembered not for the shooting, but for our response to the shooting. We will stand for all of those who lost their lives, continue to comfort those who are still grieving for their loved ones, and support the survivors who continue to need us.

We live in the greatest nation in the world, where no one should fear the evil that visited Orlando on June 12th, 2016. I am committed to working with my colleagues and anyone who will stand up to reduce gun violence and stand up for safer communities. "Profiles of Courage?" I see it every day in my community and I know it exists on both sides of the aisle.

Democratic Rep. Val Demings is a former police chief of Orlando and represents the part of the city where the Pulse night club shooting happened. Follow her on Twitter @RepValDemings.
You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @USATOpinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To submit a letter, comment or column, check our submission guidelines.
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2sfF11X

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A year after Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting, we're going backward on guns

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
CLOSE How many more times do we have to see the words 'mass' and 'shooting' next to each other before we take action? How young do the victims have to be before we take action? Since June 12, 2016, the hometown that I love, Orlando, has had to bear the unfortunate title of home to the Nation's deadliest mass shooting.

# data[].attributes.body
Today, as Americans, we grieve the brutal murder—a horrific massacre—of dozens of innocent people. We pray for their families, who are grasping for answers with broken hearts. We stand with the people of Orlando, who have endured a terrible attack on their city. Although it’s still early in the investigation, we know enough to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate. And as Americans, we are united in grief, in outrage, and in resolve to defend our people.

# data[].attributes.body
Omar Mateen, committed suicide that same day.

# data[].attributes.body
Wasn't very religious, although he had expressed anger toward gays. His ex-wife said he was disturbed and violent, but showed no signs of radicalization.

# data[].attributes.body
FBI chief Jim Comey said on Monday that the bureau had investigated and interrogated Omar Mateen on three occasions over the last three years on suspicion he might have been a radicalized Islamic terrorist

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
CLOSE

ORLANDO - The heavily armed assailant who killed 50 people in a packed nightclub early Sunday in the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history pledged allegiance to the Islamic State before he was killed in a hail of gunfire, authorities said.

Federal authorities identified the shooter as Omar Mateen, 29, a New York-born resident of Fort Pierce, Fla., who worked for the security firm G4S.

FBI special agent Ronald Hopper said Mateen made allusions to the Islamic State in a communication with law enforcement before he was killed by police. Hopper said agents had investigated Mateen in 2013 and again in 2014 regarding terror threats, but lacked sufficient evidence in both cases to pursue charges.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said another 53 people were wounded at Pulse Orlando, a gay club just south of downtown.

"Tonight our community witnessed a horrific crime... that will have a lasting effect on our community," a solemn Dyer said. "We will not be defined by a hateful shooter. We will be defined by how we love each other."

President Obama called the massacre "an attack of terror and an attack of hate."

Orlando Police Chief John Mina said the tragedy began unfolding at 2:02 a.m., when three police officers engaged the suspect in a gun battle outside the club. A hostage situation then took place inside, and a SWAT team was called in, Mina said. Police received updates from patrons trapped in the club, and decided to storm the club at about 5 a.m.

"Our biggest concern was further loss of life," he said. "We exchanged gunfire with the suspect, and he was dead at the scene."

Eleven officers were involved in the final shootout, Mina said.

Mina said the gunman was armed with an assault rifle, a handgun and some sort of unidentified device. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Mateen bought guns legally within the last few days.

Mina initially estimated the death toll at more than 20 people. Hours later the true scale of the horror was revealed. Mina said one officer was wounded and at least 30 people were rescued.

City Commissioner Patty Sheehan said the club had an armed officer at the door when the assault began, but that "there is only so much you can do."

The suspect's father, Mir Seddique Mateen, told NBC News on Sunday that he was shocked by the news, but that his son had recently expressed anti-gay sentiments. The father said the attack "had nothing to do with religion."

G4S issued a statement expressing shock and sadness at the "unspeakable tragedy." The firm said Mateen had been employed since September 10, 2007, and that G4S was cooperating fully with the investigation.

Supporters of the Islamic State, the extremist group that seized parts of Syria and Iraq, lauded the attack on social media. The militants' news agency, Amaq, said the attack was carried out by an Islamic State fighter. It was not clear, however, if Islamic State leaders had any prior knowledge of the attack.

Obama, in a brief speech to the nation, said the crime shows once again how easy it is for someone to get a weapon for use in a mass killing. He also expressed condolences to the families of the victims. The White House said Obama was getting updates on the case from Homeland Security.

"The place where they were attacked was more than a nightclub, it was a place of solidarity, empowerment, where people come together to raise awareness," he said.

Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for Orange County. "You don't want this to happen anywhere in the world," Scott said. "It's devastating when you see how many people lost their lives and the impact on the families."

Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, thanked law enforcement officials for their efforts and cautioned against any rush to judgment because the alleged killer was a Muslim, according to media reports.

"No one could have expected this, no one could have prepared for it, it could have happened anywhere," a visibly shaken Musri said at a news conference. "It's like lightening."

He said the city and Muslim community "are heartbroken."

Club owner Barbara Poma said she was "devastated" and expressed condolences to all who lost loved one.

Many of the casualties were rushed to Orlando Regional Medical Center, which was placed on lockdown. The process of identifying the victims and notifying families was underway, and a city website was slowly compiling the names of the victims. Among the first released: Edward Sotomayor Jr., Stanley Almodovar III, and Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo.

Jose Honorato was desperately awaiting news about his brother Miguel, 30, who was at the club with three friends. The friends were safe, but Jose struggled to determine if Miguel was at one of several hospital treating the wounded or was one of the bodies lying dead in the club.

"My brother's wife called me looking for him after she heard the news," he said. "I called his cell phone and he would not answer."

Adeliz Lopez said she just learned her cousin, Ilka, is in critical condition after being shot eight times. Ilka went to Pulse for Latin Night, but what was supposed to be a fun evening of dancing ended in a nightmare, she said.

"I'm devastated," Lopez said. "There is so much hate in people's heart."

Information on the tragedy slowly was revealed through the early morning hours.

"We can confirm this is a mass casualty situation. Support from local/state/federal agencies," Orlando police tweeted about four hours after the initial gunfight. Then, a short time later: "Pulse Shooting: The shooter inside the club is dead."

A bomb squad was at the scene, and police reported conducting a "controlled explosion." Hours after the shooting, police were still trying to piece together what happened.

"Anyone who was at Pulse nightclub and was a witness please come to the Orlando Police HQ," the department tweeted. "Any information you have could aid investigators in this case."

June is Gay Pride month across the nation, and Orlando recently wrapped up its annual week-long Gay Days festival. Up to 150,000 in the LGBT community attended area theme parks, gay nightclubs and special events. It remains one of the largest gay pride events in the world.

Saturday night into Sunday the club was celebrating Latin Night. Club patron Christopher Hansen told CNN he heard what could have been 20 or 30 shots, setting off a panic as people scrambled for cover or raced for the exits. He said he helped a couple people who were wounded.

"It's just shocking," said Hansen, who crawled to safety. "I just saw bodies going down."

As the tragedy was unfolding, Pulse Orlando posted to its Facebook page: "Everyone get out of Pulse and keep running."

Strawberi Falcon, a 40-year-old patient coordinator at a specialty pharmacy in Orlando, said two of her best friends were killed during the massacre. Falcon said she left her friends on the dance floor to cool off outside when she heard gunshots.

"I went outside, and seconds later there were gunshots, it was in beat with the music, and everyone started running," she said. "I still can see them, they were in the middle of the dance floor across from the VIP section, which is a cutoff place from the main room - and that's where they were found."

Falcon said Pulse was inclusive of all people regardless of their sexuality or race. "That's what upsets a lot of people, you go to this club because everyone treats you the same, no one disrespects you," Falcon said. "I have a lot of friends in the gay community who say they aren't going out again because it's just not safe."

The shooting spree came just one day after The Voice star Christina Grimmie was shot and killed after a concert Friday night at the Plaza Live Theater in Orlando. That gunman, identified as Kevin James Loibl, 27, of St. Petersburg, Fla., fatally shot himself after the attack.
Bacon reported from McLean, Va. Contributing: Mary Bowerman, Steph Solis, Chris Bonanno, John Torres, Carolyn McAtee Cerbin, and Jennifer Sangalang, USA TODAY Network
CLOSE

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1tk9n06

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Islamic State linked to worst mass shooting in U.S. history

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
CLOSE ORLANDO - The heavily armed assailant who killed 50 people in a packed nightclub early Sunday in the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history pledged allegiance to the Islamic State before he was killed in a hail of gunfire, authorities said.

# data[].attributes.headline
Mateen first came to the FBI’s attention in 2013, when he was a security guard and co-workers heard him say he had connections to al Qaeda and Hezbollah, and that he hoped to martyr himself in a confrontation with the law, according to Comey. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Mateen first came to the FBI’s attention in 2013, when he was a security guard and co-workers heard him say he had connections to al Qaeda and Hezbollah, and that he hoped to martyr himself in a confrontation with the law, according to Comey. 

# data[].attributes.body
President Obama met with victims' families in Orlando.

# data[].attributes.body
49 victims and 53 injured.

# data[].attributes.body
How many more times do we have to see the words 'mass' and 'shooting' next to each other before we take action? How young do the victims have to be before we take action?

# data[].attributes.body
"We are a community that will never be silenced again. I ask every one of you to think of a person you lost because of anti-LGBT hate," said Ken Kidd, one of the original organizers of ACT UP, one of the first organizations to push for LGBT rights. "I want every one of you to remember a time you felt unsafe. I want every one of you to think about how to make things better."

# data[].attributes.body
Democrats in Florida say just about every attempt to pass gun control legislation in the wake of the massacre has been blocked.
“These types of weapons are the gold standard of mass murders,” said State Representative Carlos Guillermo-Smith, who sponsored an assault weapons ban in tandem with a state senator.

# data[].attributes.body
Mateen pledges fealty to Isis leader “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ... on behalf of the Islamic State”. The US war on Isis in Iraq and Syria motivated Mateen to be “out here right now”, he says on a different call.

Yet during Mateen’s 911 calls, which unfolded in three phases from 2.35am to 4.29am, the killer also releases false information, including an empty threat of possessing explosive vests and a promise of vehicles rigged to detonate.

“In the next few days, you’re going to see more of this type of action going on,” Mateen says, something the FBI said as early as the day of the shooting was not a risk stemming from the nightclub assault.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Orlando shooting coverage from FOX 5 Atlanta - 6/15/16 - 5pm

# data[].attributes.body
"I'm scared, I thought this country was headed toward something better," Baker said. "It was like someone punched me in the stomach."

"I felt forced back into the closet," Nieves said. "I came out in sixth grade, and I felt so assured of myself. And then on the train today I thought maybe I should feel scared again."

# data[].attributes.body
Investigators are focusing on the question of how much Mateen ´s current wife, Noor Zahi Salman, knew about his plans before the attack. She could face federal charges if she knew the attack was going to occur but failed to alert authorities.

# data[].attributes.body
Mateen made a series of FB posts before and during his attack raging against the "filthy ways of the West," according to a Senate committee letter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
49 killed in Florida nightclub terror attack

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Forty-nine people were killed at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, in what marks the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

# data[].attributes.body
Described himself as an “Islamic soldier” out to avenge the US war on the Islamic State, according to his phone conversations with police during the 12 June massacre.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
ORLANDO, Fla. - The gunman who went on a shooting rampage in a popular gay nightclub here shot nearly all of his victims in the first stages of the assault, then was utterly "cool and calm" while he talked by phone to law enforcement officials about further carnage, claimed allegiance to the Islamic State and praised the Boston Marathon bombers, officials said on Monday.

As officials offered new details about the worst mass shooting in American history, which left 49 people dead and 53 wounded, Chief John Mina of the Orlando Police Department said that the gunman, Omar Mateen, 29, told police negotiators - falsely, they later discovered - that he had explosives and accomplices at Pulse nightclub.

Mr. Mateen eventually made comments persuading them that "there would be an imminent loss of life," Chief Mina said, prompting the chief to end a three-hour standoff and order the assault that killed Mr. Mateen and freed dozens of people trapped in the club.

President Obama, speaking to reporters at the White House, said it appeared the attack was "an example of the kind of homegrown extremism that all of us have been concerned about," with a gunman who was inspired by radical material he found online.

Even as American military forces and intelligence agencies attack the Islamic State and other extremist groups, Mr. Obama said, "one of the biggest challenges we are going to have is this kind of propaganda and perversions of Islam that you see generated on the internet."

New information also emerged Monday on Mr. Mateen, including frightening statements he made three years ago to co-workers at a local courthouse about being tied to terrorism, and that the resulting F.B.I. investigation was extensive, lasting 10 months.

"First he claimed family connections to Al Qaeda," which, like the Islamic State, is a Sunni Muslim terrorist group, James Comey, the F.B.I. director, said Monday. "He also said he was a member of Hezbollah," a Shiite group in conflict with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

"He said he hoped that law enforcement would raid his apartment and assault his wife and child so that he could martyr himself," Mr. Comey said.

"Our investigation involved introducing confidential sources to him, recording conversations with him, following him, reviewing transactional records from his communications," and searching government records for mentions of him, the director said. "We then interviewed him twice. He admitted making the statements his co-workers reported, but explained that he did it in anger because he thought his co-workers were discriminating against him and teasing him because he was Muslim."

The F.B.I. closed the investigation, and Mr. Mateen continued working as a security guard for a private firm G4S.

The Florida Department of Corrections revealed on Monday that before working for G4S, Mr. Mateen worked briefly as a state prison guard. Alberto C. Moscoso, a department spokesman, said that Mr. Mateen worked at Martin Correctional Institution from October 2006 to April 2007, but did not say why he left.

The government of Saudi Arabia reported on Monday that Mr. Mateen had traveled to that country twice to make a religious pilgrimage known as the umrah. The Interior Ministry said he had visited in March 2011 for 10 days, and in March 2012 for eight days.

Investigators were hunting for any indication that Mr. Mateen might have had help in planning or carrying out the slaughter, and they continued combing through the battered, blood-spattered wreckage of Pulse for clues.

"So far, we see no indication that this was part of a plot directed from outside the United States," Mr. Comey said.

After a night in which dozens of bodies were removed from the scene, Mayor Buddy Dyer said on Monday that 48 of the 49 dead victims had been identified, and the families of 46 of them had been notified.

Mr. Mateen had a chilling history that included talking about killing people, beating his former wife and voicing hatred of minorities, gays and Jews; most of his victims were gay, Latino, or both. His father, Seddique Mir Mateen, an Afghan immigrant, has said that he was particularly enraged by seeing a same-sex couple kiss, though the elder Mr. Mateen said in a video he posted online that he believed that it was up to God to punish gays. But on Monday, the father, teary-eyed, told reporters that he had no inkling of what was to come.

"If I knew 1 percent about what he was doing, I would have called the F.B.I.," the elder Mr. Mateen said. "He went against my principles as a father and as a U.S. citizen."

Chief Mina said that an off-duty officer who had been working at Pulse responded to shots fired at about 2 a.m. Sunday. Additional officers rushed to the scene, he said, and entered the nightclub, where they engaged in a gun battle with Mr. Mateen, forcing him to retreat to a bathroom where officers believed he had four to five hostages. About 15 to 20 people were in another bathroom.

"At that time we were able to save and rescue dozens and dozens of people and get them out of the club," Chief Mina said. A SWAT team was called and took up positions in a bathroom across from where Mr. Mateen had taken cover.

From that point, "it kind of stabilized and the suspect had barricaded himself in the bathroom," and there was no shooting during the subsequent standoff, the chief said. Mr. Mateen called 911, beginning a series of calls and conversations with the police, in which he declared allegiance to the Islamic State, the terrorist group that has taken over parts of Syria, Iraq and Libya. The attackers who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., in December also stated their allegiance to the group.

"He was cool and calm when he was making those phone calls to us," Chief Mina said. "We had a team of crisis negotiators that did talk to the suspect, just trying to get as much information as possible, and they focused on what they could do to resolve the situation."

But, he added, "he really wasn't asking for a lot and we were doing most of the asking." Asked about reports that Mr. Mateen was laughing or celebrating, the chief said there was no sign of that in the phone conversations.

"There was talk about bomb vests, about explosives, throughout," and eventually "there were statements made about imminent loss of life."

Law enforcement officials decided to mount an assault on the club, but an explosive placed on the wall did not penetrate completely, so officers used an armored vehicle to punch a hole about two feet off the ground, allowing hostages to flee, the chief said. Mr. Mateen also came through the breach in the wall, Chief Mina said, and was killed in a shootout with the police.

Orlando Regional Medical Center

Site of shooting

Pulse nightclub

Orlando Regional

Medical Center

Site of shooting

Pulse nightclub

Orlando Regional Medical Center

Site of shooting

Pulse nightclub

When asked during the news conference if there was a chance that people might have been struck by friendly fire or in the crossfire, Chief Mina said: "I will say that is all part of the investigation. But I will say when our SWAT officers, about eight or nine officers, opened fire, their backdrop was a concrete wall. And they were being fired upon, so that is all part of the investigation."

At hospitals and gathering spots nearby, relatives and friends of the clubgoers who remained unaccounted for began to lose hope that their loved ones had somehow survived. And those who had already learned that their loved ones had died began to plan for funerals.

"I cannot imagine being one of the parents or knowing your loved one may be among the deceased and waiting to find out," Mr. Dyer said. The authorities adjusted the death toll on Monday, saying that the 50 people killed included the gunman. Orlando Health, which has a network of medical facilities in the area, said 43 victims remained in the hospital, including six who would undergo operations on Monday.

Investigators continued on Monday to scour the crime scene for evidence and piece together the gunman's motive. Thirty victim witness specialists and crime reconstruction experts were on the scene, F.B.I. officials said.

Mr. Mateen's father, Seddique Mir Mateen, posted a video on his Facebook page early on Monday in which he expressed regret and confusion about why his son had carried out the mass killing.

"I don't know what caused this," said Mr. Mateen, speaking in Dari, a language spoken in Afghanistan. "I did not know and did not understand that he has anger in his heart."

"My son, Omar Mateen, was a very good boy, an educated boy, who had a child and a wife, very respectful of his parents," he said.

At Monday's news conference, A. Lee Bentley, the United States attorney for Central Florida, said the investigators had collected a large amount of electronic and criminal evidence and were trying to determine whether Mr. Mateen acted alone.

"If anyone else was involved in this crime," Mr. Bentley said, "they will be prosecuted."

The attacker, who was born in New York, turned what had been a celebratory night of dancing to salsa and merengue music at the crowded Pulse nightclub into a panicked scene of unimaginable slaughter, the floors slicked with blood, the dead and the wounded piled atop one another. Terrified people poured onto the darkened streets of the surrounding neighborhood, some carried wounded victims to safety and police vehicles were pressed into service as makeshift ambulances to rush people to hospitals.

Joel Figueroa and his friends "were dancing by the hip-hop area when I heard shots, bam, bam, bam," he said, adding, "Everybody was screaming and running toward the front door."

It was the worst act of terrorism on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001, and the deadliest attack on a gay target in the nation's history.

Gov. Rick Scott of Florida said on Monday that he had asked Mr. Obama to issue a federal emergency declaration for his state.

"Yesterday's terror attack was an attack on our state and entire nation," Mr. Scott said in a statement. "This morning, I have asked President Obama to declare an emergency so that the full resources of the federal government can be made available for all those impacted by this horrific massacre."

In a letter to Mr. Obama, Mr. Scott sought two forms of federal aid: "provision of health and safety measures," as well as "management, control and reduction of immediate threats to public health and safety." An emergency declaration would give Florida up to $5 million in initial federal funding.

The toll is larger than the number of murders in Orlando over the previous three years. Of an estimated 320 people in the club, nearly one-third were shot. The casualties far exceeded those in the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech, where 32 people were killed, and the 2012 shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., where 26 people died.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Lizette Alvarez, Richard Pérez-Peña and Christine Hauser

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Orlando Gunman Was 'Cool and Calm' After Massacre, Police Say

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ORLANDO, Fla. - The gunman who went on a shooting rampage in a popular gay nightclub here shot nearly all of his victims in the first stages of the assault, then was utterly "cool and calm" while he talked by phone to law enforcement officials about further carnage, claimed allegiance to the Islamic State and praised the Boston Marathon bombers, officials said on Monday.