Rumors Of Multiple Shooters In Orlando Massacre Untrue: Cops

Orlando, FL – Omar Mateen was the lone shooter in a Sunday morning rampage at an Orlando nightclub that left 50 people dead, including Mateen, and 53 injured.

The Orlando Police Department reiterated that point on Twitter early Monday morning, hoping to squelch rumors that multiple gunmen were involved in what is being called the largest mass shooting in U.S. history.

“The one shooter, Omar Mateen, is dead,” the police department tweeted.

While Mateen, 29, may have acted alone when he entered the Pulse Orlando Night Club & Ultra Lounge early Sunday morning, it is possible he had other forms of help, officials acknowledged during a Monday morning press conference.

U.S. Attorney Lee Bentley said electronic and physical evidence is being collected as the investigation continues.

“There is an investigation of others persons,” Bentley said. “We don’t know if anyone else will be charged.”

Authorities do not believe anyone else who might be connected with the mass shooting is placing the public in imminent danger, Bentley stressed.

“If anyone else was involved in this crime, they will be prosecuted,” he added.

Police say Mateen placed a 911 call Sunday morning pledging his allegiance to the Islamic State. The shooting began around 2 a.m. Sunday at the popular gay bar in Orlando. 

State and local officials are calling the shooting an act of terrorism.

“This is clearly an act of terrorism,” Gov. Rick Scott said during a Sunday afternoon press conference. “It’s sickening (and) it should make every American angry.”

See Also:

• Latest: Officials Begin Identifying 50 People Killed In Orlando Mass Shooting
• Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen: What We Know
• 'This Has Nothing To Do With Religion,' Orlando Shooter's Dad Says

President Barack Obama also classified Omar Mateen's actions as terrorism and issued a fresh call for action on new gun control measures.

"This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, in a house of worship, or in a movie theater or in a nightclub," Obama said. "And we have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be. To actively do nothing is a decision as well."

Sunday's death toll far surpassed an attack at Virginia Tech in 2007, where 33 were killed, as well as high-profile attacks at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2013, where 28 died, and a mass shooting that killed 14 in San Bernardino, Calif., last December.

Orlando Police began releasing the names of those killed about 14 hours after the shooting. Edward Sotomayor Jr., Stanley Almodovar III, Luis Omar Oscasio-Capo and Juan Ramon Guerrero were the first victims identified. All four were killed, police said.

Orlando has established a webpage where officials intend to list victims' names once notifications of next of kin have been made. Most of the victim’s names had been released as of Monday morning. The address iswww.cityoforlando.net/victims.

Photo courtesy of the Orlando Police Department