Video of the terrorist attack in Orlando has surfaced online, showing a volley of gunfire between police and suspect Omar Mateen as well as the chaotic aftermath of the worst terrorist shooting on American soil.
The gunman killed 50 people and wounded at least 53 others in an attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, a terrorist attack that lasted hours and ended with Mateen in a shootout with police who stormed the building.
Mateen was an American who reportedly had pledged allegiance to ISIS, and the Islamic militant group took credit for the attack on Sunday, Fox News reported. Authorities said the gay bar was packed with more than 300 people for “Latin Night” when the terrorist attack started at 2 a.m. on Sunday.
Within hours of the Orlando terrorist attack, video footage of the massacre began to emerge including a popular Snapchat video that captured gunfire between Omar Mateen and police. Other footage captured the chaotic aftermath, showing some of the clubgoers fleeing the scene of the terrorist attack, some of them wounded.
Other witnesses described a harrowing scene, with Mateen roving through the nightclub and shooting indiscriminately.
Joshua McGill, an Orlando man inside the club at the time of the shooting, said he was able to escape and hid under a car, where he found another wounded man. McGill posted about the terrorist attack on Facebook in a post that has since gone viral.
“I’m very thankful I got away safe and a lot of other people I know and care about did as well. I hid under a car and found one of the victims that was shot. I tied my shirt and his shirt over his wounds to stop the bleeding and got him secretly to the nearest officer who then transported us to the ER. Words cannot and will not describe the feeling of that. Being covered in blood.. Trying to save a guys life that I don’t even know regardless that I’m fine..just traumatized. The things I had to say to the guy and make promises I didn’t know I would be able to keep or not to keep him conscious while holding him as tight as I could and blood everywhere on me. Saying a prayer for him and letting him know I will be here waiting for him.”
McGill wrote that he wasn’t able to find out if the man survived, only knowing that his name was Rodney.
Though investigators are still digging into Omar Mateen’s motive for the terrorist attack, many have already indicated that it was an act of terrorism. President Barack Obama called it a terrorist attack in a statement released Monday, and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Adam Schiff said all signs point to Islamic terrorism.
Schiff noted that the attack took place during Ramadan, adding that ISIS leadership in Raqqa have been urging members and sympathizers to carry out attacks during the Muslim holy month.
There are also some reports that Omar Mateen shouted “Allah Akbar” during the shooting, but video that has emerged so far from the Orlando terrorist attack has not shown the shooter himself and the story has not yet been confirmed by police.
Mateen was reportedly on the FBI’s radar, and was interviewed in 2013 and 2014 through two separate investigations, but was not under any kind of surveillance at the time of the shooting, noted FBI Special Agent in Charge Ron Hopper.
More video of the Orlando terrorist attack can be seen here , but be warned that it may be disturbing for some viewers.
[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]