Orlando Nightclub: A shooting at an Orlando, Fla. nightclub this morning turned into a hostage situation and a police gun battle that resulted in “mass casualties,” according to investigators. The gunman is reported to be dead, as well as roughly 20 other people in the club.

One witness said he first thought the shots were part of the music until there were too many of them.

Police commanders say they are investigating the incident as a possible act of terrorism, although it’s too early to say whether the nature of it is foreign or domestic. They say the shooter was not from the area. The FBI is taking the lead on the investigation.

This morning, the bomb disposal squad was dealing with several suspicious “devices” they’ve found, one of them on the gunman’s body.

Police say they were called at 2:02 this morning. An off-duty officer working security traded shots with the gunman outside the Pulse nightclub. The gunman retreated back into the club and took hostages. Police say they decided to rescue the hostages at 5 am and many shots were fired. The gunman was armed with an assault rifle and a handgun.

Nine officers were involved in the final shooting that involved an explosive to breach their way into the building. The police decline to say exactly how many people are dead, only that “there are multiple people that are dead,” and 42 people were taken to local hospitals.

>The nightclub shooting happened just over 24 hours after Christina Grimmie, a singer who rose to notice on YouTube and television’s The Voice, was shot and killed Friday night while signing autographs after a show in Orlando. Grimmie’s brother wrestled with the shooter, who then turned the gun on himself and took his own life. The 22-year-old singer died at the hospital.

Police say they believe the 27-year-old man had travelled two hours to the concert with the purpose of killing the singer, but they don’t know why.

Donald on Deadline: The press is going after Donald Trump with sharpened knives.

In a long takeout on Donald Trump’s three casinos in Atlantic City, The NY Times details how Trump made millions, his investors lost $1.5 billion, companies and workers were stiffed for money owed them, and the casinos failed. Russ Buettner and Charles Bagli report that, “A central argument of his candidacy is that he would bring the same business prowess to the Oval Office, doing for America what he did for his companies.” They write, “But even as his companies did poorly, Mr. Trump did well. He put up little of his own money, shifted personal debts to the casinos and collected millions of dollars in salary, bonuses and other payments. The burden of his failures fell on investors and others who had bet on his business acumen.”

Christina Wilkie of The Huffington Post reports that she’s been unable to verify whether Trump gave profits to charity, as promised, from his Trump board game, Trump Vodka, and his book, Crippled America. Trump and his representatives didn’t answer her inquiries. Wilkie says, “In each case, Trump promised large sums of money to charity as part of a pitch to help sell a product.”

Old News: A satellite photo has turned up evidence of a giant ruin in Petra, southern Jordan, that was under the feet of archaeologists for years and they didn’t know it. The picture shows a platform or foundation that measures 184 feet by 161 feet. A smaller structure, 28×28, sat on top of the larger square. Pottery found nearby suggests the ruins are as old as 2,150 years.

Petra was built by the ancient Nabateans, who got rich trading with the Greeks and Romans. Over time, Petra was over run by the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires. And finally, by movie crews. The ruins were the backdrop for the last scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

-30-