First Names of Victims in Orlando Nightclub Terrorist Attack Released

Jermaine Towns, left, and Brandon Shuford wait down the street from a multiple shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, June 12, 2016. Towns said his brother was in the club at the time. A gunman opened fire at a nightclub in central Florida, and multiple people have been wounded, police said Sunday. AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

Edward Sotomayor Jr. Facebook

READ MORE

• Obama: Orlando Shooting an ‘Act of Terror and an Act of Hate’
• Man Driving with Guns, Explosives Arrested While Going to LA Pride Parade: Reports

READ MORE

• Infographic: Worst Mass Shootings in U.S. History

“We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident,” Mateen’s father, Mir Seddique, said. “We weren’t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country.” His father said that religion wasn’t a motivating factor.

“We condemn this monstrous attack and offer our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of all those killed or injured. The Muslim community joins our fellow Americans in repudiating anyone or any group that would claim to justify or excuse such an appalling act of violence,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations Orlando Regional Coordinator (CAIR) Rasha Mubarak said in a statement.

Visit here for full coverage of the Orlando mass shooting.