Local Experts Discuss How To Prevent Similar Tragedy From Happening Here
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Some of the attention turns from Orlando to preventing tragedies like that from happening here.
Rick Ritter has what terrorism experts and Congress members say needs to happen now.
We know ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack but investigators are still trying to figure out whether that's true or if Omar Mateen was a lone wolf terrorist.
The terror is unimaginable and the images are horrifying.
"There's blood splattering; I didn't know if it was mine," said a witness.
Sunday's rampage inside a gay nightclub in Orlando is being called the worst mass shooting in US history.
"If he's been shot dead, no one knows," said the mother of one of the victims.
Forty-nine people were killed with 29-year-old Omar Mateen pinned as the shooter. Mateen was on the FBI's watch list back in 2013 but was eventually taken off.
"They simply found nothing to follow up on to open up a bigger investigation," said a former CIA deputy director.
The FBI believes Mateen may have been radicalized online.
"If he was drawing enough attention to have two separate FBI investigations and interviews, he should not have been able to get a gun," said homeland security expert Michael Greenberger.
Experts say Orlando's mass shooting will spark serious questions in the coming days about background checks and whether someone who's been on an FBI watch list should be able to legally purchase a gun.
"I don't have enough information to know whether the FBI dropped the ball but I certainly hope there will be a thorough investigation and not just taking the FBI at their word," Greenberger said. "We're going to see an attempt in the next few days or so, an attempt from Congress to make that simple adjustment. It's a very light infringement, if any infringement at all, in the second amendment and the right to bear arms."
Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger says the answer is action from both political parties.
"They're trying to attack us and kill us and we have to come together in Congress," he said.
Ruppersberger's pointing to gun control and the assault-style rifle, which was used in yet another mass shooting.
"This is out of control and we have to come together in a bipartisan way," he said. "The time for action is yesterday."
Experts say this shooting raises questions about security and exit strategies at our own buildings in the area, some of which have already been keying in on ways to handle a mass shooting like this. Others will now start.