Orlando shooting live: Thousands gather in London's Soho to show solidarity with Orlando

Mateen pledged allegiance to Isis but authorities warned there was no evidence of a formal link

Lizzie Dearden,Feliks Garcia
Monday 13 June 2016 07:23 BST
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Old Compton Street fell silent at 7pm as a sign of respect for the partygoers killed on Sunday morning
Old Compton Street fell silent at 7pm as a sign of respect for the partygoers killed on Sunday morning

A man has killed 49 people at a gay nightclub after pledging allegiance to Isis in the deadliest mass shooting in US history. Here are the latest updates:

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Police killed the gunman at the scene of the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in the centre of Orlando after he called 911 and pledged allegiance to Isis.

Omar Mateen, 29, was born in New York to parents from Afghanistan and had been questioned by the FBI twice in years.

Around 350 people were in the Pulse nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning when he opened fire with an assault rifle and handgun, killing 50 people and wounding 53.

Authorities have cautioned that despite Isis’ claims that Mateen was a “fighter” for its group, there was no immediate evidence of communication or links.

Working for the global security firm G4S during the past nine years, he was an armed guard for a gated retirement community in Florida, and had cleared two company background screenings.

“We know enough to say this was an act of terror, an act of hate,” Barack Obama said in a speech from the White House. “As Americans, we are united in grief, in outrage and in resolve to defend our people.”

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