Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks responsible for nearly 3,000 American deaths, was shot and killed in a firefight with elite American forces in a Pakistani hideout as part of an early morning raid. As word of bin Laden's death leaked in the United States late Sunday night - through social media websites and national news telecasts - thousands of people gathered for celebrations, waving American flags at ground zero in New York and outside the White House gates. Citizens flocking to the White House and the site of the 2001 attacks huddled together, jubilant over the death of the man who had, for 10 years, been the international symbol of terrorism.