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Orlando gunman Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS
| New York Daily News | - |
Omar
Mateen, the lone gunman in the deadliest shooting in American history,
was an abusive and homophobic menace who pledged allegiance to ISIS
shortly before his massacre, authorities and relatives said.
Orlando gay club terrorist Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS; family says he was abusive and homophobic
Raw: Orlando gay club terror attack shooting
NY Daily News
Mateen, 29, declared his devotion to ISIS in a 911 call right before killing at least 50 people at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Sunday morning, authorities said. He also mentioned the Tsarnaev brothers, who executed the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
ISIS, through its news agency Amaq, claimed responsibility for the carnage.
Authorities deemed the attack an act of terrorism, and a congressman said the FBI investigated the would-be killer about three years ago.
Politicians weigh on horrific shooting at Orlando club
Omar Mateen.
(Myspace)King was unaware if Mateen was on a terrorism watch list, or if the FBI passed its information about him to authorities in Florida.
Any link Mateen had to Islamic extremists has not been confirmed.
Mateen took over Pulse with a rifle, a handgun and a "device," law enforcement said. By the time SWAT team officers shot and killed Mateen, ending an hours-long standoff, he had killed at least 50 people and wounded another 53.
Terror attack at Orlando gay club leaves about 20 people dead
Mateen's father insisted the rampage had nothing to do with religion. Instead, he said, Mateen was enraged after seeing men kissing in downtown Miami months ago.
Mateen "saw two men kissing each other in front of his wife and kid and he got very angry," Mir Seddique told NBC News.
Authorities at the bar in Pulse.
(Splash News)The father said the family is "in shock like the whole country."
Mateen was apparently an abusive spouse, who drove away his ex-wife years ago after only a few months of marriage.
Omar Mateen's freshman yearbook photo, in 2001, from Martin County High School in Stuart, Fla.
(USA TODAY Network/Sipa USA)"We even called cops to pick up her belongings."
The ex-wife is now living with her fiancé in Colorado and has had "nothing to do with" Mateen for years, her father said.
Law enforcement officers arrive at the home of Omar Mateen's parents in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
(USA TODAY Network/Sipa USA)After they met online and married about eight years ago, he repeatedly beat her while they lived together in Florida, she said.
"He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that," said the ex-wife, who also asked not to be identified.
They divorced in 2011.
Mateen worked as a security guard, and had a firearm license for his job, as well as a statewide concealed carry license, records show. The licenses were active through September 2017. It is unclear where he obtained the weapons used in the shooting.
Details about the son and current wife that Mateen's father mentioned are unknown.
Mateen was born in New York to parents from Afghanistan, law enforcement said. Before the massacre he lived in Port Saint Lucie, about two hours south of Orlando.
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