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"Today as
Americans we grieve the brutal murder, a horrific massacre of
dozens of innocent people," he said in a statement at the White
House.
"Although it is still early in the investigation, we know enough
to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate," Obama
said.
"We will not give in to fear or turn against each other.
Instead, we will stand united as Americans to protect our people
and defend our nation, and to take action against those who
threaten us."
He ordered the flag at the White House to be flown at half staff
to honor the victims.
The shooter, who was identified as Florida resident Omar S.
Mateen was killed by police at the nightclub. A top U.S.
congressman said Mateen may have pledged allegiance to the
Islamic State militant group, but U.S. officials cautioned they
had no direct evidence of a connection.
Fifty-three people were wounded in the rampage, which surpassed
the 32 people killed in the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech
university.
Obama said it was appropriate for the FBI to investigate the
massacre as an act of terrorism and said he would "spare no
effort" to determine whether the assailant had been inspired or
associated with an extremist group.
The president also termed the shooting a new 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," a reference to other mass
killings that have punctuated recent U.S. history.
"We have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be,"
he said.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Sarah N. Lynch, Jason Lange,
Ginger Gibson and David Morgan; Editing by Nick Zieminski and
Chris Reese)
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