The first investigation into the mass murderer of 50 victims in a gay club in Orlando, Florida, USA, today revealed possible ties between the perpetrator and terrorist groups.
Less than 24 hours after the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub, frequented by the LGBT community, the FBI released some information about Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, a 29 year-old US citizen, who was shot dead at the scene by the police.
At the same time, identities of seven of the 50 fatalities from this "an act of terror and an act of hate," according to US President Barack Obama, were revealed.
The families of these first identified were already notified. Their names are Sotomayor Edward Jr., Stanley Almodovar III, Omar Luis Ocasio-Capo, Juan Ramon Guerrero, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz and Luis S. Vielma.
The Pulse nightclub had organized a 'Latin Night' this Saturday so it is very likely that a high percentage of the victims are Hispanic, a community that represents some 29 percent of the population in Orlando, famous worldwide for its theme and amusement parks.
Before the attack, New York-born Siddique Mateen, who is of Afghan descent, called the emergency number 911 and pledged his allegiance to the terrorist group Islamic State (IS), according to a newspaper report.
The Islamic State-linked Amaq News Agency said in a statement that "the attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando, Florida, and that left more than 100 dead and wounded was carried out by an Islamic State fighter."
This information was not yet confirmed by official U.S. sources.
FBI Agent Ron Hopper said at a press conference that it is early to conclude that the massacre is linked to terrorism but said the alleged gunman drew the attention of the authorities for the first time in 2013.
According to Hopper, back then Siddique Mateen "made inflammatory remarks to co-workers alleging possible terrorist ties" and was investigated on two occasions.
Later, in 2014, he was investigated for his alleged connection with Moner Mohammad Abusalha, a US citizen terrorist who died in a suicide attack in Syria but it was resolved that "the contact was minimal and did not constitute a substantive relationship or a threat at that time."
The security firm G4S today confirmed in a statement that Siddique Mateen was one of its employees since 2007 and said that it is "shocked" by what happened.
According to G4S, the man was not on duty when he committed the mass shooting and the company is cooperating with authorities.
The family of the alleged perpetrator of the massacre also spoke. According to the father, Mir Siddique, his son was angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami about two months ago.
That may be the cause of the killings, which, in his opinion, "has nothing to do with religion".
Siddique Mateen's ex wife, who asked not to be identified, told the Washington Post today that he was not a "stable person" and abusive.
"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 woman who married him in March 2009 but got divorced a few months afterwards.
According to his ex-wife, the alleged murderer never showed signs of being radicalized, owned a small-caliber pistol and worked as a guard at a center for juvenile offenders.
A group of policemen today inspected and removed several objects from a house owned by Omar Siddique Mateen in the town of Fort St. Lucie, about 180 kilometers from Orlando, and also found three cars parked there, according to what Efe could verify at the scene.
Efe could see several boxes and an Apple computer being placed in police cars.
In addition to the fifty dead, the massacre also left 53 injured, some of which are in "critical condition", according to medical authorities of Orlando, who appealed to citizens to donate blood.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dye said today that 39 of the 50 people were killed on the premises, including Siddique Mateen, and the other 11 were pronounced dead at the hospital.
John W. Mina, City of Orlando Chief of Police, explained how it happened.
At approximately 02.00 am (0600 GMT), a police officer responded to shots fired at him by the suspect.
"The suspect at some point went back inside the club where more shots were fired. This did turn into a hostage situation," said Mina.
He added that officials from various security agencies came to the scene and at about 05.00 am local time (09.00 GMT) the decision to rescue the hostages was taken, and SWAT agents entered the nightclub and that the suspect died after being shot.
According to Mayor Dyer, an explosive device was placed on one of the walls of the nightclub and an armored vehicle then tore down the wall.
Mateen Siddique was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and a pistol when he was killed.
Mina said that there were eleven special police officers and three deputies engaged in the gun battle with the gunman and that only one suffered an eye injury.
Source: EFE
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