Orlando: Recovery workers spent last night removing dozens of bodies from the Pulse nightclub. As police cleared the scene, the club echoed with ringing cellphones that would never be answered.

Fifty people including the gunman are dead, and 53 were wounded, making it the worst mass shooting in US history. It’s unknown whether Pulse was targeted because it is a gay nightclub. Roughly a third of the people in the building early yesterday morning were killed or wounded.

The gunman called 911 from inside the club and declared his allegiance to the Islamic State, Orlando police say. Omar Mateen, 29, had previously been investigated for terrorist ties, but the FBI didn’t find anything solid. Mateen was born in the United States to parents who immigrated for Afghanistan.

Mateen’s father, Seddique Mir Mateen, posted a video on Facebook saying in Dari, a language spoken in Afghanistan, “I don’t know what caused this. I did not know and did not understand that he has anger in his heart.”

The club was packed with people for its weekly “Upscale Latin Saturdays” event when Mateen, armed with an assault rifle and a pistol, entered and began shooting at about 2 am. Many patrons thought the initial shots were part of the loud music.

Mateen then stepped outside for a moment and got into a gun battle with several police officers before he went back inside and killed more patrons. Some witnesses said Mateen shot victims who were already on the floor. People hiding inside called police begging for rescue.

The police breached the building with explosives and an armored car at 5 am. Eleven officers engaged in a gunfight with Mateen, leaving him dead. There is a possibility that some club goers may have been hit by police bullets.

The shooting has devastated the gay population of Orlando. Many of the victims and those who escaped with their lives knew each other.

The Politics of It: Noting that the gunman had a powerful rifle and a handgun, President Obama said yesterday, “This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or a movie theater, or in a nightclub.  And we have to decide if that’s the kind of country we want to be.  And to actively do nothing is a decision as well.”

Presidential candidate Donald Trump tweeted, “Is President Obama going to finally mention the words radical Islamic terrorism? If he doesn’t he should immediately resign in disgrace!”

The List of the Worst:

1. Pulse nightclub, Orlando, 50
2. Virginia Tech, 32
3. Sandy Hook Elementary School, 26
4. Luby’s Cafeteria, Killeen, Texas, 23
5. McDonald’s, San Ysidro, Calif., 21

On Broadway: The runaway hit “Hamilton” won 11 Tony Awards in New York last night, including best new musical. All four awards for performance in a musical went to Black actors. Some of the recipients paid emotional tribute to the victims in Orlando.

Lord Stanley: The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 last night to win their second Stanley Cup in eight years.

Blade Runner: A hearing has begun on re-sentencing the amputee runner Oscar Pistorius for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.

A defense psychologist said Pistorius is too much of a mental mess to testify on his own behalf. “Currently in my opinion, he is not able to testify,” the psychologist, Jonathan Scholtz, told Judge. Scholtz said Pistorius should be in a hospital, not in jail. “His condition is severe.”

Pending Invitation: Microsoft announced that it has an agreement to buy the business connection website LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in cash. “The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals,” Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Okay, just asking. Do you know anybody who’s ever gotten anything out of being on LinkedIn other than invitations to connect with people you don’t know?

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