first at 4 this afternoon, the desperate search for answers. the nightclub shooting that is now our nation's deadliest. good afternoon. i'm pat lawson. as we come in on the air, we are learning more about the gunman behind the attack at the pulse nightclub in orlando. >> we're also getting some new deta details about the tributes in our area and the ways you can give back. our team is working every angle both here in washington and orlando. we're going to go to the scene of the shooting in just a moment. >> good afternoon. we do begin at the live desk. the fbi is trying to figure out in the gunman had other targets in mind, including walt disney world. omar mateen visited the amusement park in april, but it is unclear if it was just a social visit. the fbi's original investigation of mateen stem from comments he made to coworkers

krau courthouse. he said he hoped agents would raid his apartment and assault his wife and child so he could martyr himself. during two rounds of questioning by the fbi, he said it was all done over anger and discrimination by his coworkers. mateen's name surfaced in another investigation of a man who became a suicide bomber in syria, but no significant connection was found. >> president obama has heard from several world leaders who have expressed their condolences and condemned the violence. the president spoke from the oval office today. he said easy access to firearms is a big part of the problem. >> and we make it very easy for individuals who are troubled or disturbed or want to engage in violent acts to get very powerful weapons

and that's a problem. it's a problem regardless of their motivations. >> well, in just a few hours the orlando community will be coming together for a vigil in downtown not far from the club where the massacre happened. aaron gilchrist is there. aaron, what is it like where you are by the memorial? >> reporter: we've just started to see any more people showing up here, but in really the last couple of hours the memorial here as been growing. i'll step out the way and try to give you a view of some of what's on the ground here. people have been coming and leaving flowers. they've been leaving signs and balloons. a lot of messages. this idea of orlando strong is something that we're seeing a lot of in different places around the city. that's the banner that's on the ground here. orlando united is also a message we have seen here a lot. people are trying to show despite the horror, the terror that was unleashed here yesterday, this community is trying to band together t

each other to get through this. a little earlier today we went to the senior center here where they've been asking the families of the victims to get more information, counseling, things of that sort. a pastor and a group of people from his church, the celebration church, walked up and their plan was to go into the senior center and offer whatever type of help they could. >> we're coming out. don't have any answers for anything. we just want to love people and show people the love of christ. we're here to help. what do you need? if you don't need anything, we'll stand out there and pray for people. >> reporter: there's been a really big effort here, chris and pat, to try to pray as much as possible. folks here have stopped in the streets when they have embraced each other, embraced complete strange strangers. we have seen people here stop and lean on the ground. some for a few seconds, others for much longer thinking about the friends they have lost and praying for their community o

we're seeing an effort to volunteer. people are looking for ways to help. we're going to have more of that for you coming up at 5:00. >> do you get a sense from being there right there that the lgbt community there is being embraced perhaps in a way that it wasn't before this tragedy? >> reporter: absolutely. what i've been told by a number of people here since we've been on the ground is that the lgbt community here is not one that's been ostracized. this is a very gay-friendly community. those are the words i've heard here over and over again. for this to have unfolded as a hate crime is something that is mind boggling to people who live here in the gay community and others in the community here. after this is all over, after the cameras are gone, he expects that the gay community will be stronger because it will be so much more supported by the r

of the community here in orlando. >> yesterday police asked people who wanted to attend vigils to hold off on doing that so they could make sure there was enough police coverage to protect those that would be attending vigils. is that still a concern today? >> reporter: that was a concern they had yesterday because there was so much effort to make sure that the crime scene was secured. there were police officers spread out last night at other gay clubs that did open for business last night. they wanted to make sure they had enough force to protect those folks. today this is the largest of the individuals, t vigil of the vigils set up tonight. we expect there will be a large crowd growing here somewhere between 5:00 and 6:30. this will be, i think, the largest gathering that we'll see of anything that we've seen so far and quite possibly into the rest of the week. >> all right.

extremely remorseful. today he is denouncing his son in no uncertain terms. >> i take the side of those people that got killed and their family and the people that got injured. he had no right to do anything. to all my american brothers and sisters, we don't approve. we're not that kind of family. what he did, he was on his own. >> seddique mateen didn't get any details about his son's religious or political views, saying he just didn't know. >> these are photos of his car taken in the parking lot of his apartment complex. police found some documents in the front seat along with some prayer beads and a ribbon in the colors of the palestinian flag. it's not clear if any of those items have any significance to the shooting. because of the tragedy in orlando, a lot of folks have

several blood drives are now under way here in the washington area. >> if you'd like to donate, the following locations will be open until 7:00 tonight. the estreet blood donation center in northwest d.c., the rockville blood donation center, and alexandria chapter house. the fairfax blood donation center will be open until 7:30. if you're looking for other addresses or other information about that, just search blood drives on the nbc washington app. throughout the next hour, we're covering every angle of this story. >> we'll show you how the shooting rampage is reshaping the race for the white house and you'll get to know some of the people whose lives have been changed forever. >> also what you need to know if you want to donate to charities helping the victims' families. much more coverage of the terror in orlando just ahead. you're watching news4 first at 4.

the greek flavors of our mediterranean collection.ve your choice of delicious chicken or hearty steak.

creamy tzatziki sauce. try our mediterranean collection today. subway. fresh is what we do. first at 4, a family returns to find their home destroyed by this huge fire in montgomery ko county. more than 65 firefighters have been working to put out the massive blaze. only the frame of the house was left standing. investigators say no one was home at the time. the cause of the fair

under investigation. it's now up to the jury to decide whether a fairfax county lawyer is guilty of a violent home invasion and attack on a mclean attorney and his wife. closing arguments wrapped up in the last hour. andrew schmuhl was so medicated that he was involuntarily intoxicated and didn't know what he was doing when he tased, stabbed, and shot the victims in 2013, say his attorneys. the motive was her plan, the plan was her plan. prosecutors argue schmuhl acted out of revenge after the male victim's law firm fired his wife. the prosecutor said there is no question or doubt the intent that night was to end leo fisher and sue duncan's life. metro safetrack project is getting a pretty big bo

the federal transit administration agreed to free up $20 million to help pay for that massive maintenance effort. in addition, fta safety inspectors are going to be on hand during the project to monitor the work. now the first phase of that plan will continue through thursday. trains are single tracking between east falls church and boston. then starting on saturday, the orange, blue, and silver lines will be shut down from eastern market and minnesota avenue to benning road. that's going to last through sunday, july 3rd. the project will impact the entire rail system over the course of the next year. more on the terror in orlando. how donald trump and hillary clinton are taking two very different approaches when it comes to talking about the situation in florida. excuse me. and we're talking about temperatures. much cooler across the area today. 96 on saturday.

rd ♪ stand by me vo: for dominion, part of delivering affordable energy includes supporting those in our community who need help. our energyshare program does just that, assisting with bill pay and providing free, energy-saving upgrades. it's more than helping customers, it's helping neighbors. ♪ stand by me

[ gunshots ] those are what appear to be gunshots recorded by a woman inside the pulse nightclub in orlando. 25-year-old amanda alveer posted the snapchat video not

moments later, she was among the dead. amanda was a nursing student and a big supporter of the lgbt community. the terror attack is reverberating on the election front. >> people reacting very differently to this. steve handelsman live at the white house with that part of the story. >> thanks. here at the white house today there is every indication this was another lone wolf, an american muslim radicalized over the internet. unlike the san bernardino killers, this guy was well known to the fbi. >> reporter: did the fbi blow it and let a terrorist attack? director james comey said today no. >> i don't think so. i don't see anything reviewing our work that our agents should have done differently, but we're look at it in an open and honest way. >> reporter: comey confirmed omar mateen was investigated twice by the fbi after he claimed links to terror

but no direct link to isis or al qaeda was found then or after sunday. >> there are strong indications of radicalization by this killer and inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations. >> reporter: this is two problems, said president obama. radicalism and guns. >> we have to counter extremism, but we also have to make sure it is not easy for somebody who decides they want to harm people in this country to be able to obtain weapons. >> reporter: the president did not cite islamic terror by name. donald trump said it's not guns, it is islamic terror. he doubled down. >> i will suspend immigration from areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism against the united states, europe, or allies until we fully underan

these threats. >> reporter: hillary clinton said suspects like mateen cannot be allowed firearms. >> if the fbi is watching you for suspected terrorist links, you shouldn't be able to go buy a gun with no questions asked. >> reporter: the justice department will look at new rules banning terror suspects from buying guns. adding to the urgency of all this, adding to the fear that orlando could have been even worse, senior law enforcement officials confirmed to nbc news that mateen scouted disney world before he attacked the pulse nightclub. at the white house, steve handelsman, news4. we are learning what, if any, changes or extra measures d.c. police are planning to take in light of the orlando massacre. police chief cathy lanier just held a news conference. mark segraves was there. what did she have to say, mark? >> reporter: she says she is still getting briefed b b

authorities in orlando as to what they're learni ining abouts shooter. she said it is too soon to take any lessons about the orlando shooting, but she got the first call about the shooting just before 6:00 a.m. take a listen to how she describes the first hours after the calls came in here. >> as you would imagine, a whole host of activity starting early yesterday morning. we immediately did some initial move of personnel and security when we first became aware of the event. then it was a series of calls and organized conference calls to organize a bunch of other activities. yes, we reached out to private sector partners through the course of the afternoon to make sure we had all the official events and a lot of unofficial events. we were able to work through a pretty well connected network

private sector folks along with lgbt unit to make sure that we have events that are associated with pride, the official pride events, but there are numerous events over the next couple of days to make sure we have those covered as well. >> reporter: she has brought in added personnel as of yesterday morning. that added personnel will stay on duty through the next few days as there are more events continuing related to the gay pride festival this weekend. she has maintained contact with the hospitality industry leaders. you're going to hear from mayor bowser. what she said what her first thought was when she heard about the shooting and how she's not going to let d.c. be terrorized by evil people with big guns at 5:00. a baltimore police officer called to testify against one his fellow officers. what he says happened the day freddie gray

injury in a police van. and why a facebook post from the national zoo has a lot of people talking this afternoon, but it may not be what you think. and a quick programming note here. a familiar show is returning to the nbc 4 daytime schedule. "access hollywood live" returns tomorrow at noon. >> it will be your place for celebrity interviews and enrtainment news in thete

you know, pat, i feel like all weekend i had my windows up in my car. i had the ac blasting. >> full blast. >> full blast. it was nice today to be able to let the windows down. >> yeah, doug. it feels so much cooler. >> it is a lot cooler, guys. we hit 96 degrees. the first 90-degree day of the season on saturday. today most areas struggling to get into the upper 70s. right now down at the airport we're looking at clear skies. a very nice afternoon. a nice little breeze out there. we're looking at temperatures right now of 80 degrees. winds out of the northwest at 6 miles an hour. a very good start to the workweek. 79 frederick. 79 leesburg. 77 ft. meade. 81 towards manassas. if you're headed down towards

game. we're taking on the chicago cubs. if we can get this series, we are a pretty good team out there. 78 degrees. a perfect evening for a ball game. it's going to be a very nice night for a game for sure. we're not going to see any rain tonight or tomorrow. then we start to get into a little bit of a unsettled pattern. clear skies now. a few clouds coming in, but notice where the clouds are coming from, coming from the north alongside that ridge of high pressure to the west. that's what brought us the 90s. look at this area of low pressure just sitting here to the north. behind it we've got this flow out of the north. what that's going to do for us is create that frontal boundary right across our area. we expect more clouds and a better chance of showers. the 90s, they are way back down to the southeast. 96 in atlanta. 93 st. louis. 71 in boston. that's some of the cool

have just to our north. tomorrow 60 degrees out at the bus stop. 82 degrees at 3:00, 4:00 in the afternoon. high temperatures tomorrow upper 70s back to the west of the blue ridge. 80s around the rest of the area. a little bit warmer as we move on through the day tomorrow. future weather showing what's happening wednesday. again, no rain tomorrow, but wednesday the clouds are here for sure. we have a lot of cloud cover wednesday. not much in the way of rain until late in the afternoon. then it is just a chance for shower activity during the day wednesday into the overnight hours. that's kind of the start of our very unsettled pattern. thursday a chance of showers, 84. friday watching a storm system. if it is closer to us, could be a lot of rain on friday. that's something we're going to be watching. temperatures only in the 70s with a pretty strong northeasterly flow. a little unsettled, so get out today and tomorrow and enjoy that weather. maybe again check out the nats taking on those

little longer to get you airport security these days, but once you are on board more flights are arriving on time. the department of transportation says more than 80% of the nights at the largest 12 airlines arrived on time in the month of april and that's better than march and april of last year. delta and hawaiian airlines had the best on time performance. in april, consumer complaints were down about 20% from the same time last year. we're still getting some new details coming in about what happened in orlando. >> the new information comes in about the shooting and about the gunman, and we're learning more about local tributes in our area as well as how local bars and restaurants are responding. >> we're also telling you how to tell if tseho

right now at 4:30, muslim and lgbt congressional staff associations with holding a vigil and a moment of silence on the steps of the capital. it's one of dozens of vigils taking place across the country today in the wake of the massacre in orlando. >> and the man who owns the gun shop where the shooter bought his guns is speaking out. he says his shop did a full background check on

and he did not sell him any body armor. the fbi is saying mateen was likely radicalized online and had no obvious direction from terror groups overseas. tonight we're learning more about the victims and about how some of those survivors are doing. >> we're also seeing new video from inside the pulse nightclub as the terror began to unfold early yesterday. jay gray has that. [ gunshots ] >> reporter: this new cell phone video shot by a woman inside the pulse nightclub and released today is part of a better picture now of exactly what was happening during the massacre early sunday morning. her family learned she was one of the 49 victims. it began near the front door where a gun battle between omar mateen and an off-duty police officer was working security at the club. >> the suspect was shooting and

with the officer. forced him to stop shooting and retreat to the bathroom. >> reporter: that was the start of a three-hour standoff and the dialogue between mateen and police. >> there were three total calls. during the calls, he said he was doing this for the leader of isil, but he also appeared to claim solidarity with the perpetrators of the boston marathon bombing. >> reporter: but the tone of the conversation quickly intensified. >> there was talk about bomb vests, about explosives. >> reporter: that's when s.w.a.t. team members moved in using explosives and heavy equipment to tear a hole in the wall of the club. dozens of survivors rushed out. >> the suspect came out of that hole himself armed with a handgun and a long gun and engaged in a gun battle with officers where he was ultimately killed. >> reporter: and now to the investigation where teams are working through a detailed analysis of the crime scene. >> 48 of the 49 vic

>> reporter: the difficult task of notifying family members of those victims continues, dozens still waiting for any news. for one mother looking for her son, her worst fears confirmed today. he is among the victims, but there is better news for another family. they learned their missing son was still alive. >> it was enormous relief just to see him. >> reporter: more than two dozen of the wounded are still in the hospital now. doctors say at least five remain in grave condition. more insight into the investigation right now. federal agents say they found no known ties between mateen and overseas terror organizations, but they are looking into the possibility that he may have scouted other potential targets here before the attack, including disney world. jay gray, nbc news, orlando. earlier in the show, aaron gilchrist showed us the growing memorial down i orlando. now we're taking a look at l

u.s. capitol. you can see a tremendous crowd starting to gather there for a vigil, an interfaith vigil there, on the steps of the capitol paying tribute to some of those victims jay just talked about. we also want to pass on some information about two other local vigils that are happening in our area tonight. the unitarian universalist congregation of sterling along with the all dulles area muslim society and the interfaith community of loudoun county, they're going to be gathering together at 7:30 at the church. the city of hyattsville, maryland, is hosting a candlelight vigil on galatyn circle. some of the owners of gay bars and clubs told us they are well aware of the situation in orlando. every one of them told us they have strong security plans in place. why one of the bar

us he's recently increased security. most didn't want to talk about their plans publicly. >> understandable. watch for more live coverage here on tnbc 4. we'll air a special edition of "nightly news" at 6:00. an officer charged in one of the most high-profile murder cases in baltimore took the stand today to testify against another officer charged in freddie gray's death. chris gordon was there to hear the testimony. >> reporter: baltimore police officer william porter didn't want to testify against any of his fellow officers, but he was compelled to do so by prosecutors, the trial judge, and the court of appeals, maryland's highest court. officer william porter's own trial in december ended with a hung jury. porter faces retrial later this summer, but nothin

today in court can be used against him because he is testifying with limited immunity. prosecutors called porter as their witness against the defendant, caesar goodson. porter said when the van stopped for the fourth time, goodson asked porter to check on the prisoner. porter said freddie gray asked him for help getting up to the van bench. porter asked gray if he wanted to go to a hospital and gray said yes. porter testified he told the wagon driver that gray wanted to go to the hospital, but officer goodson said nothing, failing to call for medical help or restrain freddie gray on the bench in the police van. ahead at 5:00, how officer porter's testimony as a prosecution witness may have helped defending goodson more than it hurt him. back to you. a day at the beach and a close encounter with a shark. meet the teenager who suddenly felt the jaws of a shark

clamping down on his arm and hear how he managed to get away. apple is making some noise this afternoon. you're going to hear about the new gadgets the tech giant is introducing and how its ceo paid tribute to the tragedy in orlando. temperatures tonight falling into the 50s and 60s. if you're driving out and about, looking good. you have some rain on that seven-day forecast. that's all coming up in just a few minutes.

the sorrow and show of solidarity surrounding the deadliest mass shooting in our nation's history is stretching into the tech world today. apple's ceo tim cook was at the company's developer's conference in san francisco today when he led a moment of silence to honor the victims of terror in orlando. cook is the first ceo of a fortunate 500 company to come out as gay. >> apple unveiled new features for its devices, including expanding siri to desktop and laptop computers and upgrades to imessage and o

tech giant microsoft has purchased linkedin. the ceo will keep the title and report to microsoft ceo. the deal values linkedin at $196 per share. the shares soared 47%. we will know some very exciting news tomorrow. >> an animal at the zoo is expecting and we're going to find out which one. the zoo tweeted out this picture today of a positive pregnancy test. zoo officials aren't saying which animal is now pregnant, but we're looking forward to finding out tomorrow. you can watch the announcement live on our nbc washington facebook page. now that's intriguing. >> i don't know. elephant, maybe?

here. >> maybe another panda pregnancy. >> i have to think that one would have leaked out though. there's a dangerous shark swimming along north carolina's crystal coast. >> yeah, a teenager says she was bitten by that shark while she was standing waist deep in the ocean with her brother and a friend. they spotted the shark and a few seconds later the teenager felt teeth sink into his hand. >> and then i went to go swing and it hit it. it let me go. it was just a mess of blood. >> he received 26 stitches on his right hand and is expected to make a full recovery. more of our coverage of the massacre in orlando. some of the names, faces, and stories who went to pulse this weekend and never came home. >> you may be tempted to donate some of your money to those in need. consumer reporter susan hogan has four things you need to know to make sur that ech

right now some of the new details we're getting about the orlando nightclub shooting are about the victims. >> some are using words like fun-loving, amazing, and happy to describe some of the people that were killed. >> reporter: this was the scene inside pulse nightclub before the shooting. the club was packed. >> it was my first

bar. i don't know spanish, but i stayed. >> reporter: chris hanson ended up carrying the wounded from the largest mass shooting in u.s. history. dozens shot, 49 lost their lives. edward sotomayor was one of those two died, known as eddie to his friends and remembered as an angel, a popular, fun-loving guy. >> he loved to party with people. >> reporter: fun-loving is how she remembers her son enrique rios. he went to orlando for a quick weekend trip. >> he had a heart for the elderly. he loved taking care of them. he lived with his grandma because he wanted to take care of her. >> reporter: kimberly morris worked as a bouncer at the club. friends called her an amazing woman. mors

weeks ago with the caption, thank you. his son was shot multiple times at the club, but is expected to survive. >> god is giving you another chance. that's what i told him. >> many people tend to take advantage at a time like this. a warning now about scam artists looking to make money off the tragedy in orlando. >> hard to believe, but we have seen this before. susan hogan is looking into some of the red flags i guess we all need to be aware of when we're donating. >> tragedy inspires all of us to want to give, but it also inspires some people to take advantage of our generosity. that's why the better business bureau along with the federal trade commission are alerting you to give wisely. here's a few ways to donate safely. let's start with state government registration. you've got to make sure the charity you donate to is

the district. the attorney general's office usually will be able to tell you. watch out for look-alikes. some scam artists will use names that sound like legitimate organizations to trick you. ask how the donation will be used. watch out for vague appeals that don't identify the intended use of funds. we have a lot more information about donating to legitimate charities for you right now on our nbc washington app. you just want to search donate safe. >> i never heard of the one, the sound alike charities. >> go and google it first. go to the legitimate charity's website. i would never go to a link that's given to you unsolicited. landmarks around the world are showing their solidarity with orlando. this is what the capital wheel

last night. tonight in paris the eiffel tower itself will be lit the same way to honor the victims of that shooting. we had gorgeous conditions out there today. my goodness. it's still wonderful out there as we continue into the evening. taking a look at our tower camera right now. temperatures in the 70s for the most part. we were in the 90s for the last two days, so quite a change in the air mass. 79 is that temperature in washington. 79 in leesburg. 76 in frederick. maybe you're headed out to nats park or just want to eat some dinner outside. it is going to be quite refreshing. the humidity is going to stay on the low side. very delightful weather as we continue to fall under clear skies. temperatures are going to fall into the 50s and 60s tonight.

we may have a few clouds starting to build in in the overnight tonight. a lot of places outside the beltway in the upper 50s. another great night to go ahead and keep those windows open. we're going to be dry. we're going to keep that humidity on the low side. tomorrow is going to be another comfortable day. lower 80s, very similar to today. maybe a few degrees warmer than it actually was today. future weather you can see. we're looking at clouds on wednesday. we will see that cloud cover throughout the region. we'll go mostly cloudy. then we'll also have a chance for some rain showers on wednesday. this is when things get a little unsettled. rain showers possible on wednesday. then again on thursday and even into friday. so you can see a few rain showers trying to develop. i'm giving it about a 30% chance as we get into wednesday. then as we head into thursday and friday maybe a un

then friday we'll have increasing conditions for better weather. we'll get some sunshine by friday afternoon and that humidity will drop. the humidity starts to creep back in on wednesday. you're going to feel it by noon. definitely warm and humid on wednesday with temperatures in the mid 80s. then we're in the 70s on friday. that's it. with dropping humidity levels. enjoy tonight. enjoy tomorrow. the rain returns on wednesday. then again on thursday. possibly on friday. 74 on friday. quite a change. maybe not a good pool day, but right now the weekend looks like you should hit up that pool scene. the humidity looks like it will stay on the low side for the weekend. all in all, not a bad forecast. we have a few rain chances this week, but nothing we can't handle. tonight the district is stepping up its strongest effort in years to win statehood for 700,000 citizens.

the first meeting is going to be held to draft a state constitution. >> we have convened meetings to talk about having an advisory referendum on the november ballot. the constitutional convention will have a discussion of the draft constitution that was circulated a couple months ago. that's expected to pass. then the city will petition congress to make the nation's capital the 51st state called new columbia. starting this saturday and lasting for the next 16 days, prince georgians who depend on the orange, blue, and silver lines will be impacted by metro's safetrack program. today the general manager of metro and also the metro board chair jack evans all came to the prince george's county council to talk to council members to talk about how the safetrack program is going to

>> i thicome to work earlier. stay later. telecommute. >> reporter: hear what the chair of metro's board had to say about prince george's plan to impact transportation in this county. a chilling account of what happened inside the pulse nightclub in orlando. a grieving mother shares the heartbreaking final exchange with her son hundreds of miles away just as the chaos began. >> that story and more of the powerful tributes in o

blood centers in orlando say they have never seen a response like this. they're getting overwhelmed by people wanting to donate blood for those wounded in the nightclub shooting spree. so many people showed up yesterday. one blood center asked folks to stop coming and instead to schedule an appointment over the next few days. at one point, the line wrapped around the block. one man waited 13 hours to give blood and he didn't complain. >> after you have invested four, six, eight hours -- a lot of people had to go because of obligations, but there's a number of people, about 270, that stayed and

going to give blood today no matter what. ended up being 13 hours. >> in orlando there's a significant need for o positive, o negative, and ab blood. if you'd like to help our local blood centers, we have posted a list in the nbc washington app. just search blood drive. there are vigils planned across the country tonight to mourn the victims of the shooting spree. including a vigil in new york city outside the stonewall inn in manhattan. crowds swarmed out there yesterday. hundreds of people holding signs and chanting. the stonewall inn became iconic for the gay rights movement back in 1969. the final words of one of the shooting victims immortalized and in his mother's phone. eddie justice texted his mother from inside the bathroom in pulse yesterday morning. we have more of the heartbreaking

to the person he loved most. >> reporter: in the middle of the night as chaos and murder shut down the pulse nightclub, mina justice got a text from her 30-year-old son eddie. mommy, i love you. in club. they shooting, he wrote. it was 2:00 in the morning. he was hiding in the bathroom as the killer shot people around him. >> he kept texting. i woke up and looked at it. then i called him back and then he didn't answer. then he called me back and said they were shooting in the club. >> reporter: his mom wrote back, you okay? he replies, trapped in bathroom. what club, she asked. pulse. he pleads with her to call police. she hangs up and does just that. he texts again he's coming. i'm going to die. i asked him was he hurt. he said yes. i said are some of the people hurt. he said yes. what bathroom are you in. the women's bathroom. he said hurry, he's inhe

bathroom with us. >> eddie justice has been identified as one of the 49 people killed in the massacre. i'm aaron gilchrist live in orlando leading our team coverage of this terror attack. i'm here as the investigation continues and the agonizing wait for the victims' families comes to an end. >> and we begin with the latest on the shooting rampage that left 49 dead and at least 53 others wounded. >> the investigation is still in its initial phases, but president obama says it appears to be home grown extremism. right now the fbi is combing through the cell phone and computer, but there's no indication that the plot was actually directed from outside the united states. at this point, it appears he became radicalized by material that he read

director says the gunman's motives aren't clear. during a call to a dispatcher, the alleged shooter pledged allegiance to isis, but he referenced other attacks that were not inspired by isis. >> we make it very easy for individuals who are troubled or disturbed or who want to engage in violent acts to get very powerful weapons very quickly and that's a problem. >> right now, people are starting to gather at a memorial for the victims in orlando. aaron gilchrist joins us with more. >> reporter: the stage has been set up for the vigil tonight for the speakers who will speak. we have already seen a memorial grow in this area over the last few hours. you can see lots of flowers and signs. signs of support on the ground for the victims and the victims' families who are struggling so much right now. across the city you see other signs of people trying to do