America has begun to attach names, faces, and life stories to the 49 victims

who died in a massacre at Orlando nightclub over the weekend.

Most of them were young gay Latinos and details about their characters and aspirations

have added new emotion to the vigils happening across a shellshocked country.

Outside the historic Stonewall inn in New York, famed as the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement,

crowds gathered to pay tribute to the victims

and call for action against violence.

At the same time, the public was absorbing harrowing new detaills,

about how people died.

The FBI said the attacker, Omar Mateen,

shot nearly all of them in the first stages of his assault.

And remained cool and calm during a 3 hour standoff in which he

held hostages in the bathroom and talked by phone to law enforcement officials,

claiming allegence to ISIS and praising the Boston marathon bombers.

In Fort Pierece, the ocean side town where Mateen lived with his wife and son,

neighbors were allowed back to the apartment complex,

from which they'd been evacuated, as Mateen's home was searched.

The city's small Muslim population meanwhile, is facing uncomfortable questions.

"This is the mosque where Omar Mateen worshipped, and he came three or four times a week,

according to a board member called Adel Nefzi, who I just spoke to.

Mateen wasn't the most frequent visitor, and he didn't hang around after prayer like some others to catch up with friends.

Nefzi said he didn't have any special insights into Mateen's personality,

but he was adamant about a few things.

He said this mosque does not preach hatred; it does not have any ties to any foreign Islamic groups.

And he said that if Mateen was radicalized

it certainly didn't happen here."

In his latest statement about the attacks, Barack Obama described Mateen as a homegrown extremist,

saying he'd been inspired by radical material he'd found online.

The President urged Americans to respond by supporting tighter gun laws.

"It appears that the shooter was inspired by various extremist information, that was disseminated over the Internet."

Hilary Clinton agreed with him, as terroism surged to the forefront of the presidential election.

But Donald Trump attacked her and Mr. Obama, as being soft on terror.

"We cannot continue to allow, thousands upon thousands of people to pour into our country,

many of whom have the same thought process as this savage killer.

Many of the principles of radical Islam are incompatible with Western values and institutions."

Precisely what the attack was, is becoming clearer by the day.

But there're still, a lot more to learn.