Cairo: A Twitter account associated with Islamic State on Sunday posted a photo purported to be Omar Mateen, identified by US authorities as the shooter who killed at least 50 people in a massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
"The man who carried out the Florida nightclub attack which killed 50 people and injured dozens," the caption accompanying the photo read. There was no official Islamic State statement.
It was not possible to verify whether the picture was in fact of Mateen. Other Twitter accounts linked to Islamist militancy also carried photos of the same individual, and Islamic State supporters posted messages of praise for the attack.At least 50 people were killed and injured 53 in the crowded gay nightclub in the tourist hub of Orlando, early on Sunday. The shooter was also shot dead by police, authorities said, in what appeared the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
The shooter was identified as Omar S. Mateen, a man that a senior FBI official said might have had leanings towards Islamic State militants. Officials described the attack as a "terrorism incident" though cautioned that the suspected Islamist connection required further investigation.The death toll given by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and police to reporters made the attack the deadliest single shooting incident in US history, eclipsing the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech university, which left 32 dead.
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