Washington: US President Barack Obama decried the “horrific” mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, as an act of “terror” and an “act of hate”, targeting a place of "solidarity and empowerment" for gays and lesbians. He urged Americans to decide "if that's the kind of country we want to be," as he reminded the countrymen of the easy access to firearms people enjoy in America.
Hours after a gunman killed at least 50 people in Orlando, Obama said the FBI would investigate the nightclub shooting as terrorism, but said the alleged shooter's motivations were unclear. He said the U.S. "must spare no effort" to determine whether the suspect, identified by authorities as Omar Mateen, had any ties to extremist groups.
At least 53 people were hospitalized, most in critical condition, and a surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center said the death toll was likely to climb.
The previous deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. was the 2007 attack at Virginia Tech, where a student killed 32 people before killing himself.
Mateen's family was from Afghanistan, and he was born in New York. His family later moved to Florida, authorities said.
A law enforcement official said the gunman made a 911 call from the club in which he professed allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The official was familiar with the investigation, but was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The extremist group did not officially claim responsibility for the attack, but the IS-run Aamaq news agency cited an unnamed source as saying the attack was carried out by an Islamic State fighter.
Even if the attacker supported IS, it was unclear whether the group planned or knew of the attack beforehand.
Mateen was not unknown to law enforcement: In 2013, he made inflammatory comments to co-workers and was interviewed twice, according to FBI agent Ronald Hopper, who called the interviews inconclusive. In 2014, Hopper said, officials found that Mateen had ties to an American suicide bomber, but the agent described the contact as minimal, saying it did not constitute a threat at the time.
Asked if the gunman had a connection to radical Islamic terrorism, Hopper said authorities had "suggestions that individual has leanings towards that."
Mateen purchased at least two firearms legally within the last week or so, according to Trevor Velinor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
"What is clear is he was a person filled with hatred," Obama said of the alleged shooter. He added: "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."
Obama had planned to travel to Wisconsin on Wednesday for his first campaign appearance of the 2016 race, a joint rally with Hillary Clinton in Green Bay, Wisconsin. But Clinton's campaign and the White House said that event was being postponed in light of the attack.
The president, who has proclaimed June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, called the attack "heartbreaking" for the LGBT community. He said the site of the shooting was more than a nightclub because it was a place where people came "to raise awareness, to speak their minds and to advocate for their civil rights."
"The shooter targeted a night club where people came together to be with friends to dance and to sing — to live," Obama said.
For Obama, the hastily arranged remarks were the latest in what's become a tragically familiar routine. Since he took office in 2009, Obama has appeared before cameras more than a dozen times following mass shootings and issued written statements after many others.
The president made no new, specific call for stricter gun laws. Though he lamented "how easy it is" for people to get their hands on weapons, Obama appeared resigned to the likelihood that he'll be unable as president to substantially address the mass shootings that have proliferated in recent years.
"We have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be," Obama said. "To actively do nothing is a decision as well."
After a gunman in Newtown killed 20 first graders and six adults in 2012, Obama dedicated much of the start of his second term to pushing legislation to expand background checks, ban certain assault-style weapons and cap the size of ammunition clips. That measure collapsed in the Senate, and since then, the political makeup of Congress have made new gun laws appear out of reach. Still, Obama has sought to take incremental steps using his own authority to tighten rules for obtaining a gun.
Obama spoke from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, named after the former press secretary who was shot and permanently disabled in an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
He also signed a proclamation on Sunday ordering flags to be flown at half-staff until sunset on Thursday in honour of the victims.
Vice President Joe Biden cancelled a planned trip Sunday to Miami to hold a fundraiser for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. Biden's office said he would remain at his family home in Delaware while receiving updates about the shooting before returning to Washington in the evening.
(With inputs from PTI)
