Mateen was not unknown to law enforcement: In 2013, he made inflammatory comments to co-workers and was interviewed twice, according to FBI agent Ronald Hopper, who called the interviews inconclusive. The extremist group did not officially claim responsibility for the attack, but the IS-run Aamaq news agency cited an unnamed source as saying the attack was carried out by an Islamic State fighter.Įven if the attacker supported IS, it was unclear whether the group planned or knew of the attack beforehand.
The official was familiar with the investigation, but was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. He wanted to be a police officer and applied to a police academy, but she had no details.Ī law enforcement official said the gunman made a 911 call from the club in which he professed allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. She described him as religious but not radical. Mateen was short-tempered and had a history with steroids, she said. The couple was together for only four months, she said in remarks televised from Boulder, Colorado, and the two had no contact for the last seven or eight years. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, told reporters that her former husband was bipolar and “mentally unstable.” His family later moved to Florida, authorities said. Mateen’s family was from Afghanistan, and he was born in New York. was the 2007 attack at Virginia Tech, where a student killed 32 people before killing himself. The previous deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. I’m gonna die.” As Sunday wore on, she awaited word on his fate.Īt least 53 people were hospitalized, most in critical condition, and a surgeon at Orlando Regional Medical Center said the death toll was likely to climb. In club they shooting.” About 30 minutes later, hiding in a bathroom, he texted her: “He’s coming. Pulse patron Eddie Justice texted his mother, Mina: “Mommy I love you. “I was praying to God that I would live to see another day.” “My first thought was, oh my God, I’m going to die,” Alamo said. “You ever seen how Marine guys hold big weapons, shooting from left to right? That’s how he was shooting at people,” he said. Jon Alamo had been dancing at the Pulse for hours when he wandered into the club’s main room just in time to see the gunman.