Orlando Shooting Worst Terror Attack Since 9/11

Forty-nine people were killed and 53 more wounded in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., just after 2 a.m. on June 12. It was the deadliest shooting in American history and the worst terror attack on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001. “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,” said President Obama later that afternoon. Police shot and killed the gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mir Seddique Mateen of Fort Pierce, Fla., who allegedly pledged his allegiance to ISIS before the deadly rampage began. The FBI first “became aware” of Mateen—an American citizen born in New York—in 2013, according to the Orlando Police Department’s Twitter account. Obama said he’s directed the FBI, which is investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism, to “spare no effort to determine what, if any, inspiration or association this killer may have had with terrorist groups.” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said if it’s determined the shooting was “directed or inspired by” ISIS, “it will only steel our resolve to defeat this depraved enemy, prevent the spread of its hateful ideology, and defend our people.”