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Facebook has activated its safety check feature so people can let their friends know they are safe after the deadliest mass shooting in US history took place in Orlando, Florida.29-year-old Omar Mateen , and are investigating the incident as an act of terrorism.
Mr Mateen was armed with an assault-type rifle and a handgun. He was involved with a stand-off with officers for around three hours before SWAT teams stormed the building and shot him dead.
Show all 30 1 /30In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Friends and family grieve after a list of hospitalised victims was released, implying the death of those who weren't on the list and hadn't been heard from, outside a Hampton Inn & Suites hotel near the Orlando Regional Medical Center
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting People mourning for victims of the mass shooting near the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Mina Justice speaks to a reporter discussing texting with her son Eddie who was in a bathroom at Club Pulse in Orlando. It has now been confirmed that Eddie Justice was among the 50 people killed in the massacre
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting FBI agents investigate near the damaged rear wall of the Pulse Nightclub
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Terry DeCarlo, executive director of the LGBT Center of Central Florida (C) is comforted by Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan (R) after a shooting involving multiple fatalities at a nightclub in Orlando
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting FBI agents investigate the damaged rear wall of the Pulse Nightclub
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Police officials investigate the back of the Pulse nightclub after a shooting involving multiple fatalities at the nightclub in Orlando
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting A member of the Medical Examiners office wheels a body to a vehicle from the mass shooting at Pulse Nightclub
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting A photograph posted by the Orlando Police Department on Twitter with the words, "Pulse shooting: In hail of gunfire in which suspect was killed, OPD officer was hit. Kevlar helmet saved his life", in reference to the operation against a gun man inside Pulse night club in Orlando
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting FBI, Orlando Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff's Office personnel investigate the attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Annette Stubbs, a pastor at a local church, prays for victims a few blocks from a crime scene at the nightclub where a mass shooting took place
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Aimee McCarthy from Jacksonville, gives blood at the oneblood facility, to help the victims from a mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Police forensics investigators work at the crime scene of a mass shooting at the Pulse gay night club in Orlando
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting An injured person is escorted out of the Pulse nightclub after a shooting rampage
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting An injured man is escorted out of the Pulse nightclub after a shooting rampage
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting An injured man is escorted out of the Pulse nightclub after a shooting rampage
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Law enforcement officials work at the Pulse nightclub following a fatal shooting
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Orlando Police officers direct family members away from the nightclub
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting The scene outside the Orlando gay club where multiple people have been shot
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting The injured are treated in the street outside Pulse in Orlando following the shooting
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Two witnesses, Jermain Towns (left) and Brandon Shuford, wait down the street for news following shooting and hostage stand-off at the Pulse nightclub. Mr Towns said his brother was in the club at the time
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Emergency services at the scene. Ambulance crews and firefighters were outside the club alongside police.
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting People treating the wounded on the street
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Friends and family members embrace outside the Orlando Police Headquarters during the investigation of a shooting at the Pulse night club
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Law enforcement agencies and local city representatives give a news conference in the wake of a mass-casualty shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Orlando police officers seen outside of Pulse nightclub after a fatal shooting and hostage situation in Orlando, Florida
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Friends and family console one another outside the Orlando Police Headquarters
In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the worst mass shooting in U.S. history that took place in Orlando
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Imam Syed Shafeeq Rahman, the Imam of the mosqe that mass shooter Omar Mateen attended, speaks to the media in Fort Pierce. The imam said that the suspect never gave any indication he was capable of such violence.Omar Mateen attended evening prayers three or four times a week at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, bringing his son who is about four or five years old
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In pictures: Orlando nightclub shooting Omar Mateen has killed 50 people at a gay nightclub after pledging allegiance to Isis in the deadliest mass shooting in US history
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The FBI say there are indications Mr Mateen has "leanings" towards Islamist extremism and Islamic State but no connection has been confirmed yet.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said the incident could be classified as a "domestic terror incident".
Now Facebook is reportedly giving those living in Florida the opportunity to tell their friends in the nearby area they are safe.
Latest footage of Orlando nightclub shooting 
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