DU Expert: ‘Direct Parallels’ Between Orlando Massacre and San Bernardino Attack
Author(s)
Jon Stone
Media Relations Manager
Massacre at Orlando nightclub is now the worst mass shooting in U.S. history
49 people were killed and more than 50 are hurt after a shooting early Sunday morning inside Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Many of the injured are in critical condition and surgeons fear the death toll will likely climb.
More than 300 people were inside the gay nightclub as it was preparing to close. The shooting started shortly after 2 a.m. on Sunday. The gunman has been identified by authorities as 29-year-old Omar Mateen. Police confirm he was carrying an AR-15 and died in a gunbattle with SWAT officers. Only minutes after the shooting started, Pulse nightclub posted on Facebook telling everyone to get out.
Authorities confirm that Mateen made a call to 911, around the time of the attack, and pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State. The extremist group has called Mateen an “ISIS fighter”, but it’s unclear if the group planned or knew of the attack beforehand.
“This seems to have direct parallels with the San Bernardino attack of December 2, 2015,” said Nader Hashemi, the director of Center for Middle East Studies at DU’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. “The alleged perpetrator was a lone wolf who was inspired by ISIS. Deeper connections with ISIS might surface in the coming days, but I would be surprised.”
A witness to the shooting told ABC News that Mateen was asking club goers their race and said the U.S. needs to “stop bombing ISIS.”
“The timing of this event could be linked to events in the Middle East,” Hashemi says. “In recent weeks ISIS has been on the defensive, losing ground in Iraq and Syria and more recently in Libya. They have called on their supporters to step up attacks on western targets, I suspect to deflect attention away from their territorial losses and to send a message to their supporters that they are still a formidable fighting force.”
