But the group has not previously singled out the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in its deadly assaults in the West. Over the past year, the Islamic State has orchestrated major attacks in Paris and Brussels at concert halls, cafes, subway stations, and airports that aimed at killing as many people as possible in an arbitrary fashion. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq “news agency,” but authorities said it was unclear if Mateen had clear links to the group, or if he was merely a lone wolf inspired by its propaganda. The shooter who stormed the Pulse nightclub, identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen, declared his allegiance to the Islamic State in a 911 call shortly before he cut down dozens of people and set off a scene of unspeakable carnage that ended with his own death Sunday morning. But the rampage may also have set another disturbing precedent, marking the first large-scale attack inspired by Islamist extremism that successfully targeted the LGBT community in a Western country. A massacre that left 50 dead and 53 wounded Sunday at a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, is now the deadliest shooting in U.S.