20 dead in mass shooting at Orlando club

Approximately 20 people are believed to have been killed inside a Florida nightclub, and at least 42 wounded.

The partygoers were killed during a mass shooting at the gay club.

Orlando Police Chief John Mina says the shooter was armed with an assault-type rifle, a handgun and some type of suspicious device.

Police had said previously on Twitter that there was a "controlled explosion" at the scene of the shooting at Pulse Orlando. Mina says that noise was caused by a device intended to distract the shooter.

Mina also says the suspect had exchanged gunshots with an officer working at the club, then went back inside and took hostages around 2 a.m. About three hours later, a SWAT team made the decision to go inside and rescue the hostages.

The shooter died in a gunfight with those officers.

The club, Pulse Orlando, earlier posted on its own Facebook page just after 2 a.m.: "Everyone get out of pulse and keep running."

It was the second deadly shooting at an Orlando nightspot in as many nights. Late Friday a man thought to be a deranged fan fatally shot Christina Grimmie, a rising singing star and a former contestant on "The Voice", while she was signing autographs after a concert in the Florida city.