Baptist Press
ORLANDO, Fla. (BP) — Calls for prayer and compassion rang out from Southern Baptists nationwide hours after the mass murder of 49 and the injury of 53 early Sunday (June 12) at an Orlando, Fla., gay nightclub in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Armed with a handgun and an AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, a U.S.-born citizen of Afghani parents, walked into the Pulse nightclub around 2 a.m. and began shooting among the more than 300 patrons at the club as it prepared to close for the day.
Police killed Mateen around 5 a.m. after a three-hour standoff as the gunman held at least 30 hostages inside the club. During the horror, Mateen called 911 and pledged allegiance to ISIS Islamic terrorists, ABC News reported. Mateen had killed 49.
First Baptist Church of Orlando, the pastorate of David Uth, will host a community-wide prayer meeting at 7 p.m. June 14 in cooperation with the Greater Orlando Baptist Association and several pastors across various denominations. [Read more…]