♪ ♪ this was an act of terror and an act of hate. >> 50 people are dead, 53 more injured in the deadliest mass shooting in american history. >> oh, my god. people are getting shot. >> authorities say a gunman carrying an assault-type rifle and a handgun opened fire inside a crowded gay nightclub in orlando. >> this should make every american angry. >> thanks for joining us. i'm denise nakano. tonight, that gunman is dead following a standoff with police, and as you heard the president just say authorities are investigating this morning's attack as an act of terrorism.

the gunman has been identified as 29-year-old omar mateen and authorities say he had tied to terrorists. he reportedly called 911 shortly before the attack and pledged allegiance to the islamic state. mateen lived in port st. llucie florida, and born in new york to afghan parents and he entered the pulse nightclub in orlando, around 2:00 this morning armed with an assault rifle and a handgun. andrea klein thomas is following the recent developments on this story and she joins us live from the digital operations center. >> reporter: denise, in the last few hours the fbi announced it was first made aware of omar mateen in 2013 after he made inflammatory comment tosco workers. the following year authorities learned that the now 29-year-old had minimal contact with an american suicide bomber. both investigations did not find mateen to be a threat. >> some of the wounded were

carried out of orlando's pulse nightclub and others waited outside for help and pickup trucks were used to take people to the hospital. >> my son was inside the nightclub with his boyfriend and other friends, and i know that his boyfriend has been shot multiple times and is in the emergency room, but i don't know where my son is. no one can tell me where my son is. >> oh, my god, people are getting shot, dude. >> reporter: gun fire erupted inside the gay nightclub at 2:00 sunday morning and the hundreds inside tried to dodge the barrage of bullets while helping those who were shot. >> i did help him up. i threw his arm over mine and i carried him around and when i realized that he was all bloody and his blood was all over me that it wasn't my blood that i had to find a way to fight it and i took my bandanna off and tied it and put it in the hole to make sure that whoever was coming to help us could help him. >> reporter: at first an estimated 20 were killed and

that number skyrocketed to 50. 53 are knowledged including an orlando police officer who exchanged fire with the gunman only to be shot in the head. the officer's kevlar helmet saved his life. authorities identified the gunman as 29-year-old omar mateen. he was killed by law enforcement. according to the fbi, he called 911 early this morning declaring his support to the islamic state. >> this is an act of terrorism. it's sickening. it should make every american angry. >> mateen had an assault rifle with a handgun that he purchased legally within the last week. he's a u.s. citizen who was known to the fbi and had not previously been considered a threat. >> in the face of hate and violence we will love one another. we will not give in to fear or turn against each other. instead, we will stand united as americans. >> right now the names of six of

the 50 victims have been released. as we get new information we will bring it to you during this newscast. reporting live in the digital operation center, andrea klein thomas, nbc 10 news. the president ordered flags at the white house and federal buildings lowered to half-staff to honor the nightclub victims. he also ordered flags lowered at embassies and other u.s. buildings abroad. the flags will remain at half-stahalf half-staff thursday. >> hillary clinton has called for extended background checks in the wake of today's violence. she released a statement saying in part, for now, we can say for certain that we need to redouble our efforts to defend our country against threats at home and abroad. donald trump had said the existing background check system should be fixed and not expanded. he tweeted earlier a congrats to

identify islamic terrorism and we must be smart. santa monica police arrested a man carrying guns and possible explosives who said he was heading for west hollywood gay pride event. police searched the man's vehicle and found those weapons. authorities say they do not know of any connection between the arrest and the mass shooting at the gay nightclub in orlando. the fbi says it's assisting with the investigation. the city of philadelphia is also celebrating gay pride. today's celebrations took on new meaning in light of the massacre in orlando. nbc 10's lauren mayk is live. what's the mood been like? >> the party is actually wrapping up here at pens landing and although orlando was on people's minds today they didn't let that crush the spirit of the day and some people told me it was more important to be here today for those who are not.

motorcycles kicked the parade into gear on lucas street. the crowd filled with smiles and cheers, but being here is more than celebration for jared mcreary and his friends. >> we are here to show our pride especially with what happened in orlando, like, yesterday with the shooting. we are definitely here to show people. >> they can't hold us down, you know? >> they can't break us. >> reporter: it started even before they got here. >> it was more important to walk here and more important to wear rainbows. >> reporter: the pride shown and felt here today, and also sharing the sidewalk with thoughts of the deadly orlando shooting. >> is that something that's on your mind today? >> absolutely. our hearts go out to those people and today we were concerned about our safety, as well, but we can't sit home and just be afraid. >> i've been in multiple phone calls with the fbi today and that's why i feel safe saying at this time there are no specific threats to this event whatsoever. >> we caught up with philadelphia police chief

inspector joe sullivan who tells me they stepped up police visibility today. >> we are in place with this event and the events that happened overnight, certain things were done to tweak that appointment. >> reporter: celebrations continued along the parade route to pens landing. here a college student held a sign. >> we ran to dollar tree and put this message. orlando, rest in peace shooting victims. >> i think we need to use this horrible tragedy as an impetus to come together and work for each other's safety and security. >> and here in philadelphia we have just learned that tomorrow evening the mayor will take part in a vigil for the victims in orlandee happening at city hall. live at pens landing, i'm lauren mayk, nbc 10 news. stay with nbc 10 news on air, online and the latest

mobile device for the latest on the deadly shooting. george spencer just arrived in orlando. he'll have a live report in just a few minutes. the deadly shootings in orlando come a day after a local singer was shot ask killed there. tomorrow night a south jersey community will come together to remember christina grimmie. her hometown of burlington county will hold a candlelight vigil at 8:45 at the sports complex. police say a 27-year-old florida man gunned down the former "voice" contestant as she signed autographs following a concert in orlando. the gunman then took his own life. detectives are searching his cell phone and social media accounts looking for clues to a motive. we continue to follow breaking developments on this morning's mass shooting at a gay nightclub in florida. coming up, hear from a man who ran from the club as the gun fire started. nbc 10's george spencer will have that live from orlando. and here at home, fire forces dozens of people out of

their west philadelphia apartment building. the latest on the efforts to get residents back home. to grow up.

but teachers like mr. elliot saw something in me. made a connection with me. now i'm a teacher myself, right here in camden.

i'm just passing it along to my own students and making those same connections my teachers made with me. now that's some beautiful music. i'm jamal dickerson, and i'm proud to be a new jersey educator. we're continuing to follow developments in the investigation into the deadliest mass shooting in modern u.s. history. a gunman killed at least 50 people inside a gay nightclub in orlando and wounded more than 50 others. nbc news learned earlier today the suspect called 911 and swore allegiance to the head of isis shortly before the attack. nbc 10's george spencer has just arrived in orlando. he used to live and work there as a reporter in the city and he joins us live from the scene with an update. george? >> reporter: denise, you can see how spread out and expansive this crime scene still is. the nightclub is about a block

and a half behind me where i'm standing. orange avenue is the main thorough fare through downtown orlando and the central business district about five blocks in that direction and this is a mix of commercial and residential where this mass chaos played out overnight. on the ground in orlando we are hearing some firsthand accounts. one man described the smell of ammunition as tipping him off about the deadly danger. some people apparently thought that gun fire was part of the music inside the nightclub or fireworks nearby, but this man knew better and trufrting h trusting his instincts saved his life and he rushed out of the pulse nightclub and hid in the convenience store nearby. >> he changed and put another ammunition and i could smell the ammo in the air. this is a gun and this isn't fireworks. we need to leave. >> reporter: and that chaos

lasted for hours in this general vicinity and even right now orlando lease have a five-block stretch closed to the public and several other directions closed, as well and we are encountering people from the delaware valley who are part of this chaos last night and we are planning to speak to them and planning to have that on the news at 11:00 and we are live from orlando and a city in mourning and i'm george spencer, nbc 10 news. >> thank you. we will see you tonight at 11:00. well, warm and windy today. is it going to be cooler tomorrow? we'll track the wet weather later in the week and i'll let you know what to expect when you live in my forecast.

♪ ♪

more than 100 men, women and children need a place to live tonight after a fire tore through a west philadelphia apartment building.

the flames broke out near 43rd and chestnut streets and affected six units. a man who lives in a neighboring building says he woke up to see a very scary scene next door. >> it was flaming. you could see the flame going up about 30 feet in the air. >> the american red cross set up a jelte tore provide food and beds to residents who were forced out. no word yet on how that fire started. a south jersey forest fire is affecting traffic is one popular route to and from the shore impeach he was forced to shut down route 72 webt, and it is the main route to long beach island, but it's impacting driver visibility due to the smoke. >> an annual celebration of african-american culture is taking place today near the banks of the schuylkill river. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> crowds packed the street in the philadelphia square for the festival. the event featured live music, food and crafts. spring garden is a good day for giving back to students here and abroad. chosen 300 ministries got backpacks and thalgd go to a small community in jamaica and volunteers took time to give an oath to the homeless. >> we have chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz. >> pretty hot wind and it was 85 in philadelphia and 78 in the suburbs and 77 in the lehigh valley and in the jersey shore, we've had a strong land breeze today so temperatures right at the beaches got up to close to 90 degrees and despite the, and

only 80, and off delaware bay, and 41 miles an hour a few miles ago in mount holly and see if it's died down any and it's down to 28 in mount holy and we're still gusting to 27 miles an hour in coatesville, so we do still have a fair amount of wind out there. it's going to gradually diminish tonight. we've got a lot of dry air across the region, and we have some cooler air that is going to be coming in as we go into the next couple of days. we hit 92 degrees and 90 today for the official high and 81 tomorrow and tuesday which is pretty close to average for this time of the year and it's going to be dry at least for a while. as you can see on the wider view, here's monday, 8:00 a.m., we've got sunshine and a few clouds coming in from the

northwest as we go to monday night and tuesday and there's no precipitation with those clouds and as we go into tuesday night it's still dry. now we're seeing a couple of sprinkles in central pennsylvania just to prove to you that there actually is a radar that works, a future radar there. the neighborhoods for tomorrow are showing a lot of sunshine and not nearly as warm as today and temperature 82 in fox chase and 78 in east op. i don't have raindrops anywhere, it's in rehoboth beach, 8 5shgs wednesday, a similar story and lots of sunshine all of the waive and the farther south you are the jersey shore and delaware, i've got some showers in for wednesday, as you can see with the neighborhood forecast,

we're specifying what areas you can see the showers on wednesday and i'm keeping it mostly cloudy for philly and bringing rain in for everybody on thursday with cooler weather and off the ocean on friday and a lot of clouds, keeping it cooler, but by father's day weekend we're talking about temperatures jumping especially by sunday and perhaps cool weather on sunday and could be getting some 90s as we go on into next week. i'm danny pommels from comcast sportsnet. after falling behind today, we'll have highlights from the nation's capital.

>> hi, i'm danny pommells. they've lost ten of the last 11 games with the cubs and nationals and two first-place teams headed to the finale and d.c. they don't call him the fighting for nothing and have a look at the top of the fifth and guess who? cody ashy living the hard knock life and the solo left, and the first of the season phillies down 3-1 and here they come. herrera getting in on the front and another opposite field punching into the left field corner and the signature back flip to bring home the pitcher and adam morgan and the next batter, freddy galvis and the hit parade continues and he has the single crowd and right now we are 3-3 tied in the eighth inning. we could see the coolest trophy in sports headed out in

nbc 10 and the stanley couple have the straight elimination during the second straight game. he had the chance the history in franchise history. >> this is as high stakes as it gets and our lairs are well aware of this situation, and i think throughout the course of this postseason, you know, this group of players has shown an ability to respond the right way, and we trust these guys. we trust our leadership. we believe in this group, and i believe that we'll be at our best. >> from the ice to the hardwood where one of the league's best players has been suspended for game five of the nba times and draymond green and it was his fourth flagrant foul of the 2016 taken should results in an automatic suspension. that's your look at sports.

i'm danny pommells. we'll be right back. hello,

i am banking assistance and registration technology. hello! it's our new intern, bart's first week here at td bank he's a robot from one of those other banks. we're training him to bank human. he has a lot of bad habits from his previous bank. we'll make it our mission to change that. hello account holder number 000-2738-4873 we'll teach him that customers, aren't account numbers... bart, this is tod. ...and that even though they aren't customers, dogs are always welcome. take your time. he'll learn that, even the smallest of human touches, can go a long way... hey bart, the pens are free. oh. ...and that we have longest hours than other banks. wait, wait, wait. hi amy. thank you. thank you. that is not protocol manager jenna. that's ok bart, it is here.

eventually he'll learn that we do things a little differently here at td bank. don't just bank. bank human. and you can count on nbc 10 news for continuing coverage of this morning's deadly nightclub shooting in orlando, florida. george spencer will have a live report from the scene in orlando tonight at 11:00. nbc news will also air a special edition of "dateline" coming up at 7:00. the entire hour will focus on the terror in orlando. and that's nbc 10 news for now. for glen, dan and all of us here i'm denise nakano. we'll see you after the game. lester holt reports live from orlando.

on this sunday night, terror in orlando. the deadliest shooting in u.s. history. at least 50 people shot and killed in a crowded gay nightclub. man with an assault rifle and a handgun taking hostages before he was finally killed. for the 15th final the president coming before the nation after a mass shooting. >> this was an act of terror. and an act of hate. >> the shooter pledging allegiance to isis and his father recently voiced anger about gays. plus, the victims and how police s.w.a.t. teams saved many more from near certain death as survivors described the panic, the disbelief, the horror of livin