Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, issued an emotional statement during a press conference Sunday afternoon, saying Americans are "heartbroken" by the Orlando nightclub attack by a Port St. Lucie man who pledged allegiance to ISIS before he killed 50 people and injured 53 others. But Rubio pledged the country would stand together, united to overcome the tragedy.
"... The world is seeing this community respond in extraordinary ways," Rubio said.
Rubio said the tragedy could have happened anywhere in the world. He noted he is still learning all of the facts surrounding the attack.
"But we know there's hate in the world. We know that some of it is inspired by a warped ideology," he said. "We know that we've been in conflict with it for a very long time."
He said the people who carry out these attacks are seeking to intimidate the country.
"They seek to terrorize us, and I hope they see today they won't terrorize America. They won't terrorize Floridians, that we stand for and with all Americans, irrespective of sexual orientation, irrespective of their party ideology, irrespective of where they live," he said.
"We are all Americans. You are seeing the response today, and this will continue. This will make us stronger. They will not win. Islamic terrorists need to know that they will not win, that America will stand strong and together," he continued.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, joined Rubio to speak to reporters on the scene shortly before 3 p.m.
The FBI confirmed Sunday it had interviewed the suspect in the shooting three times before it took place early Sunday morning.
In fact, ISIS has been quick to take credit online for the act of terrorism at one of Central Florida's most popular gay nightclubs, Pulse.
Nevertheless, the father of suspected shooter Omar Mateen doesn't believe his son acted out of religious conviction. He sees it as a pure hate crime and apologized for it on behalf of his son.
"He became very angry when he saw two men kissing in downtown Miami a few months ago," the elder Mateen told NBC News on Sunday, and said he thinks that may have been part of his son's motivation.
"We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident," the father said. "We are not aware of any action he was taking. We are in shock like the rest of America. This had nothing to do with religion," he said.
An official said the FBI first became aware of the suspect, Omar Mateen, 29, in 2013 when he made "inflammatory comments to coworkers alleging possible terrorist ties."
In the course of that investigation, Mateen, born in New York, who has an apartment in Fort Pierce and whose family lives in Port St. Lucie on the Treasure Coast, was interviewed twice, but the FBI was unable to verify the substance of his comments.
Again in 2014, the FBI conducted an investigation into possible ties between Mateen and an American suicide bomber.
The FBI conducted another investigation, which included an interview with Mateen, but determined that the contact did not constitute a threat at that time. Mateen had enough clearance to be hired as a courthouse security guard.
The FBI said it is looking into any and all connections, both domestic and international, to the shooting at the crowded nightclub. Police said they do not have a second suspect they are actively looking for, and do not know of any "credible or singular threats that are facing the Orlando area or nationally."
The agent at Sunday afternoon’s press briefing also confirmed reports that the shooter called 911 before the massacre, and said his remarks had general connections to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group.
The content of those calls is now federal evidence.
A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesperson said Mateen, a U.S. citizen, legally purchased two firearms -- a handgun and a long gun “within the past few days.”
The casualty figures at Pulse make it the worst mass-shooting incident in U.S. history.
In a statement delivered from the White House briefing room at 2 p.m., President Obama declared the mass shooting an act of terror, vowing to dedicate the federal government's full resources to the investigation.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson canceled travel plans to return to Washington to help deal with the aftermath.
"This was an act of terror and an act of hatred, and as Americans, we are unified in grief and outrage and in resolve to defend our people," Obama said from the press briefing room of the White House. "[The shooter] was a person filled with hatred and in the coming days, we will uncover why and how this happened."
The president expressed his condolences to the victims and their families and ordered flags to be flown at half-staff. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer asked that people across the country observe a moment of silence at 6 p.m. ET to remember those killed and pray for those injured.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, attacked President Obama Sunday afternoon for refusing to attribute the shooting to radical Islam -- and had a few words for his probable opponent in November, Hillary Clinton.
“In his remarks today, President Obama disgracefully refused to even say the words 'Radical Islam'. For that reason alone, he should step down,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said in a statement. “If Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words 'Radical Islam,' she should get out of this race for the presidency.”
Police said there are still victims’ bodies in the nightclub as the investigation continues.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott echoed that sentiment earlier in the day.
"This is clearly an act of terrorism. You just can't imagine this would happen to our community, our state or anywhere in our country, but for somebody to go in there and be an active shooter and take those -- that number of lives and injure that many people is clearly an act of terror," Scott told reporters.
NBC News reporter Pete Williams first reported that the gunman called 911 just before the killing spree and began pledging allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., cited similarities between the shooting and last year's Paris terrorist attacks at a music venue.
"We need to let the FBI conduct their investigation, but I will say, everything that I'm seeing now points to some type of radical Islam," Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, said on CNN.
(Content for this story was taken in part from Sunday news reports in The Hill newspaper and network news broadcasts.)
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
