If you want to read back through GayNZ.com's coverage of this tragedy and its aftermath, click here. MIDNIGHT Wednesday NZT update: Among the 49 victims of the mass shooting in Orlando, 23 were Puerto Rican. A vigil was held at the Hato Rey LGBTT Community Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico to honour the memory of the Puerto Ricans who lost their lives (Carlos Giusti/The Associated Press) The Puerto Rican justice secretary Cesar Miranda says that it was not immediately clear how many of the 23 were born on the US mainland and how many had immigrated but that Puerto Rico must reaffirm its commitment to addressing the social problems that led to the shooting and unite with it’s diaspora. "Faced with this loss, I have been forced to reflect on all the social problems that led to this massacre: intolerance about gender preferences , discrimination against Latin Americans in the United States and broad access to weapons in that country," he said. "That is why we must reaffirm our commitment to these three fronts in Puerto Rico and unite with our diaspora and the American people to continue taking steps toward equity.” Several families have requested help with returning their loved ones to the island to be buried. The Associated Press reports that several of the Puerto Rican victims had settled in Orlando to flee a dire economic crisis that has sparked the largest such exodus in decades. LGBTI rights activist, Pedro Julio Serrano says "They thought they were going to have more freedom over there, only to be met with death. ”Neither Orlando, nor Puerto Rico, nor the world are safe places.” Friday has been declared a day of mourning by the Puerto Rican governor and the mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico’s second largest city where five of the victims were from, is donating plots at the municipal cemetery to the families. Orlando has one of the largest populations of Puerto Ricans in the US. 10.30PM Wednesday NZT update: The gunman at ten years of age Deeply troubling information is emerging about the gunman who shot to death 49 patrons of the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Childhood classmates recall him having homicidal and misogynistic fantasies as early as age 10 and his getting suspended at around the same age for threatening to get a gun and shoot up his school. Numerous attempts by the school to intervene failed because of the “enabling” nature of his father, Seddique Mateen, who was considered to be the source of his abysmal attitude towards women and girls. One of his teachers said she tried to reach out to him but found his attitudes impenetrable. “He felt that women were beneath him... He was taught to disrespect them. His mum, his sisters were afraid of him. They had to be subservient to him because he was the son. They treated him like the father, with respect... He was mean-spirited. On the playground he would take things first. He would grab someone’s ball from them, things like that." It is said the gunman hurled chairs in class and spat at teachers “He struggled with reading and with other subjects. I think this was his way of deflecting his own insecurities.” His father, the teacher says, "was a pig... He was disrespectful to women at large. He just felt women were not to be valued." “He was in denial about his son even then. He would say, ‘Oh Omar, he does nothing wrong’.” The father has apparently now blamed the massacre on what he says was poor club security. 6.00PM Wednesday NZT update: Surgeons at Orlando Hospitals say the death toll of victims of the mass shooting could rise above 49. They say there are still six wounded victims in a critical condition in hospital. President Obama will visit Orlando later this week. It remains unsure if the man arrested in Los Angeles hours after the Orlando gay nightclub massacre intended to harm the LA Pride Parade. The man apparently said to arresting police that he was going to the parade but it has now been clarified that he did not say he intended to "harm" the parade. And police are increasingly sure there was no connection between the man and the Orlando tragedy. James Wesley Howell, 20, has appeared in court and is charged with possessing an assault rifle and explosives. The explosives were of a type which can be detonated by the impact of a bullet. 5.15PM Wednesday NZT update: The owner of Orlando's Pulse gay nightclub, the scene of the weekend's mass shooting which saw 49 people shot dead and 53 hospitalised has spoken publicly for the first time since the tragedy. Barbara Poma Barbara Poma has spoken of being "devastated and heartbroken" and of grief. She said Pulse is a place of love for the glbtiq community and was started in memory of her brother who died due to AIDS in 1991. She expressed her condolences and sadness for those who lost their lives, to those in hospital and to their families. The response of the city of Orlando has been "amazing" she said, paying tribute to the emergency services, police and the surgeons and medical teams who are still fighting to keep some victims alive. She also paid tribute to the nightclub's patrons and staff including those from years gone by. "They are my family," she said. She says she will re-build Pulse to be the"glbti heartbeat" of Orlando. "This terrible act of hate will not stop Pulse," she concluded. You can view video of her brief speech here. 1.30PM Wednesday NZT update: A mother was dancing with her gay son at the Pulse nightclub. As the gunman opened fire and people dropped dead all around the pair she told her son to get down and stood in front of him. The gunman turned towards her, opened fire and she dropped. She did not survive, according to her sister-in-law. But her son is alive. Imran Yousuf A Muslim ex-marine who had served in Afghanistan and who was a bouncer at the club saved dozens of lives, according to witnesses. Imran Yousuf, 24, recognised the sound of gunfire and managed to open a fire escape and get some clubbers out of the venue. At the start of a speech in which he says ‘I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs,’ onald Trump bizarrely thanks the glbti community. In response to claims the gunman had been cruising on gay hook-up apps Jack'd and Grindr have issued statements expressing sympathies and saying they are cooperating with law enforcement authorities but neither confirming or denying the allegations. The two Russian men photographed themselves in a police car after their arrest A gay couple in Moscow have been detained by poilce for leaving a bunch of flowers and a note saying "Love wins" outside the US embassy. They say they do not know why they were singled out from others who were placing flowers. Russian law makes it an offense to promote any aspects of homosexuality or anything which draws attention to non-traditional relationships. The friends and family of a shooting victim have held a funeral for him based on the funeral of the gay Harry Potter movies character, Dumbledore. Luis Vielma, 22, was fascinated with the Harry Potter stories and worked at the Universal Studios theme park on the Harry Potter ride. It is believed one of his colleagues at Universal was also killed and another is in critical condition in hospital. - 15th June 2016