“Gunfire erupted at a gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday, with multiple injuries reported, Florida authorities said. ‘Everyone get out of Pulse and keep running,’ the club posted on its Facebook page.” The shooting happened at approximately 2:00 a.m. local time. Initial reports indicate that hostages may have been taken, that the local bomb squad has been called in, and that as many as twenty people may have been injured. There are no confirmed fatalities yet. As always, initial reports in these instances are sketchy and the ‘facts’ inevitably change as more learned.
Initial witness accounts suggested that at least seven people had been shot at Pulse, which describes itself as Orlando’s premier gay nightclub. June is Gay Pride Month. A WESH-TV reporter has said the assailant may have shot 20 or more people.
Another witness told WESH 2’s Stewart Moore than his friend is wounded and remains locked in a bathroom inside the nightclub.
Police have yet to confirm details regarding the location of the suspect or suspects; however, WESH 2’s Bob Kealing reports a search underway outside nearby Orlando Regional Medical Center, where shooting victims have been taken.
Bomb dogs and law enforcement officers are walking the grounds of the hospital.
