Omar Mateen, identified by authorities as the shooter who reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a 911 call from a gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday and then killed 50 people, had twice been investigated by the FBI, reported
ABC News.
Mateen, 29, also made reference to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, law enforcement officials told ABC News.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Ronald Hopper said in a news conference Sunday that while Mateen was not under any investigation or surveillance at the time of the shooting, he was interviewed before by the agency.
The FBI looked into a 2013 allegation that he made "inflammatory" comments to co-workers and then again in 2014 after he was linked to another U.S. radical who became a suicide bomber in Syria, Hopper said. In both cases, it was determined that he was not a threat and the investigations closed.
The
Washington Post reported that Mateen legally purchased two weapons, one an assault-style semiautomatic rifle, a few days before the shooting.
The newspaper said he had "a blemish-free record" when applying for a Florida license to carry concealed weapons at the time.
Mateen's father, identified by
NBC News as Seddique Mir Mateen, said his son saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago and believed it may be related to the shooting.
"We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident," Seddique Mir Mateen said, noted NBC News. "We weren't aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock, like the whole country."
Mateen ex-wife, Sitora Yusifiy, said Sunday that he was combative, "very short-tempered," and would hold her hostage, reported
The Guardian. They were married in 2009, but divorced in 2011.
"In the beginning he was a normal being that cared about family, loved to joke, loved to have fun," Yusifiy said her ex-husband after they met online. "A few months after we were married I saw his instability, I saw his bipolar, and he would get mad out of nowhere, and that’s when I started worrying about my safety."
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