The widow of the gunman behind the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges she aided her husband in planning the attack.

Noor Salman, 30, entered her plea at a hearing in federal court in northern California where she was arrested on Monday in relation to last year&#39;s assault by her husband Omar Mateen.

The wife of Orlando nightclub gunman who killed 49 people in a deadly mass shooting pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of aiding and abetting her husband in planning the attack.

Noor Salman, 30, was ordered to be detained by a federal court in northern California until her bail hearing on February 1.

Federal prosecutor Roger Handberg argued in a hearing on Tuesday that Salman knew about her husband&#39;s plans for the attack.

Salman&#39;s family claim that she was ignorant of her husband&#39;s intentions and was, in fact, a victim of domestic abuse.

&quot;We believe it is misguided and wrong to prosecute her and that it dishonors the memories of the victims to punish an innocent person,&quot; Linda Moreno, Salman&#39;s attorney, told local media.

If convicted, Salman faces up to life in prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Noor Salman early on Monday at her home in California on suspicions that she knew about her husband&#39;s plans to carry out the attack.

The two-count indictment states that Noor Salman, who was arrested Monday in northern California, aided and abetted her husband&#39;s attempt to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, namely the Islamic State group, AFP reported. The 30-year-old faces charges of obstruction of justice and misleading the authorities investigating the shooting.

Omar Mateen killed 49 people in an attack on Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando last year. He was killed in a shootout with the police. He pled allegiance to the Islamic State in a phone call to the dispatchers.

(With inputs from AFP)

The judge ordered Noor Salman to be detained pending a bail hearing on February 1

The widow of the gunman behind the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges she aided her husband in planning the attack. Noor Salman, 30, entered her plea at a hearing in federal court in northern California where she was arrested on Monday in relation to last year's assault by her husband Omar Mateen. The wife of Orlando nightclub gunman who killed 49 people in a deadly mass shooting pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of aiding and abetting her husband in planning the attack. Noor Salman, 30, was ordered to be detained by a federal court in northern California until her bail hearing on February 1. Federal prosecutor Roger Handberg argued in a hearing on Tuesday that Salman knew about her husband's plans for the attack. Salman's family claim that she was ignorant of her husband's intentions and was, in fact, a victim of domestic abuse. "We believe it is misguided and wrong to prosecute her and that it dishonors the memories of the victims to punish an innocent person," Linda Moreno, Salman's attorney, told local media. If convicted, Salman faces up to life in prison. The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Noor Salman early on Monday at her home in California on suspicions that she knew about her husband's plans to carry out the attack. The two-count indictment states that Noor Salman, who was arrested Monday in northern California, aided and abetted her husband's attempt to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, namely the Islamic State group, AFP reported. The 30-year-old faces charges of obstruction of justice and misleading the authorities investigating the shooting. Omar Mateen killed 49 people in an attack on Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando last year. He was killed in a shootout with the police. He pled allegiance to the Islamic State in a phone call to the dispatchers. (With inputs from AFP)

Wife of Orlando nightclub shooter pleads not guilty

The gunman who killed 49 patrons at a gay nightclub in Orlando was hit by at least eight bullets as he died in a shootout with a SWAT team, according to an autopsy report released. 
 
Omar Mateen&#39;s autopsy released yesterday showed he was hit by bullets to his head, neck, chest, abdomen, calf and foot. 
 
&quot;In consideration of the circumstances surrounding his death, and after examination of the body and toxicology analysis, it is my opinion that the death of Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, a 29-year-old while male, shot by law enforcement, is the result of multiple gunshot wounds,&quot; Dr Joshua Stephany, the chief medical examiner, wrote in his report a day after the June 12 massacre at the Pulse nightclub. 
 
No drugs or alcohol were found in his body, but his urine had levels higher than typically found in a healthy person of a compound often associated with consuming a dietary supplement used for bodybuilding. 
 
The report also said his testosterone range was normal. The Orlando medical examiner&#39;s office also released reports on more than two dozen of the victims and said more autopsy reports would be released next week. 
 
Mateen opened fire at the nightclub near downtown Orlando in a rampage that killed 49 people and left 53 hospitalized. 
 
Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group during a call with police dispatchers during a three-hour standoff. He died in a hail of gunfire after police breached a wall in the venue. 
 
The autopsy report showed Mateen had three bullet wounds to his foot, two wounds to his chest and a wound each to his scalp, abdomen and right calf. 
 
(AP)

Omar Mateen's autopsy released yesterday showed he was hit by bullets to his head, neck, chest, abdomen, calf & foot in a shootout with SWAT

The gunman who killed 49 patrons at a gay nightclub in Orlando was hit by at least eight bullets as he died in a shootout with a SWAT team, according to an autopsy report released. Omar Mateen's autopsy released yesterday showed he was hit by bullets to his head, neck, chest, abdomen, calf and foot. "In consideration of the circumstances surrounding his death, and after examination of the body and toxicology analysis, it is my opinion that the death of Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, a 29-year-old while male, shot by law enforcement, is the result of multiple gunshot wounds," Dr Joshua Stephany, the chief medical examiner, wrote in his report a day after the June 12 massacre at the Pulse nightclub. No drugs or alcohol were found in his body, but his urine had levels higher than typically found in a healthy person of a compound often associated with consuming a dietary supplement used for bodybuilding. The report also said his testosterone range was normal. The Orlando medical examiner's office also released reports on more than two dozen of the victims and said more autopsy reports would be released next week. Mateen opened fire at the nightclub near downtown Orlando in a rampage that killed 49 people and left 53 hospitalized. Mateen pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group during a call with police dispatchers during a three-hour standoff. He died in a hail of gunfire after police breached a wall in the venue. The autopsy report showed Mateen had three bullet wounds to his foot, two wounds to his chest and a wound each to his scalp, abdomen and right calf. (AP)

Orlando gunman hit by 8 bullets in police shootout: Autopsy

Partial transcripts of 911 calls made by the gunman who slaughtered 49 people at a gay nightclub in Florida were released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Monday. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s been one week since the shooting. As you all know, this is a very thorough and comprehensive investigation of the largest mass shooting we&#39;ve had, the most significant terrorist act since 9/11. No stone is being left unturned,&quot; US Attorney Lee Bentley said during a press conference held to announce the release of the transcripts. 
 
During one of the calls Omar Mateen made from the Pulse nightclub in downtown Orlando, he threatened to blow up a car rigged with bombs and to strap hostages into explosive vests, according to the transcript. 
 
&quot;You people are gonna get it, and I&#39;m gonna ignite it if they try to do anything stupid,&quot; Omar Mateen said. 
 
No explosive vests or bombs were found in the nightclub or the suspect&#39;s car, however, the FBI said. 
 
Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, paused several times during the three-hour siege at the club to speak by phone with emergency dispatchers and police negotiators, as well as to post internet messages pledging allegiance to Islamist militant groups. 
 
&quot;He does not represent the religion of Islam but a perverted view, which based on what we know today was inspired by extremist killers. We currently have no evidence that he was directed by a foreign terrorist group, but was radicalised domestically,&quot; said Ron Hopper, a FBI assistant special agent in charge. 
 
Mateen told an emergency dispatcher he was wearing an explosive vest like the kind they &quot;used in France,&quot; apparently referring to the deadly assault in Paris last November by Islamic militants, according to the transcript. 
 
As patrons fled the club, they told police outside that the shooter said he was going to put four vests with bombs on victims within 15 minutes, the FBI said in its statement. 
 
Mateen is a New York-born US citizen and Florida resident of Afghan descent, who has been described by US officials as &quot;self-radicalised&quot; in his extremist sympathies. 
 
The partial transcripts originally did not include a pledge of loyalty that Mateen made to Islamic State&#39;s leader. Hopper told a news conference near the nightclub that only partial transcripts were released so as not to &quot;propagate their rhetoric, their violent rhetoric.&quot; 
 
Later in the afternoon, the FBI changed course and released the excerpt without omissions. 
 
US House Speaker Paul Ryan accused the Obama administration of censoring references to the Islamic State militant group and called for the full transcripts to be released. 
 
Mateen identified himself as an &quot;Islamic soldier,&quot; according to the FBI, and he told a negotiator to tell the United States to stop bombing Syria and Iraq. 
 
The Joint Terrorism Taskforce has conducted more than 500 interviews about the massacre, Hopper said, and has processed 600 pieces of evidence. 
 
Orlando Police Chief John Mina said the initial engagement by authorities caused the gunman to retreat and barricade himself in a bathroom with hostages. He said officers were inside the club saving victims during the three-hour standoff. 
 
&quot;During that time, our officers were intermittently in and out saving people, rescuing people from inside the club,&quot; Mina said, rejecting any criticism that police had failed to act quickly enough to end the siege. 
 
Authorities have said preliminary evidence indicates Mateen was a mentally disturbed individual who acted alone and without direction from outside networks. 
 
The massacre at Pulse, which also left 53 people wounded, led to national mourning and soul-searching over easy access to firearms and the vulnerability to hate crimes of people in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. 
 
The killings also triggered an effort to break a long-standing stalemate in Congress over gun control. 
 
The Senate was set to vote on Monday on four competing measures - two from Democrats and two from Republicans - to expand background checks on gun buyers and curb gun sales for people on terrorism watch lists. 
 
(Reuters)

In one of the calls Mateen had threatened to blow up a car rigged with bombs and to strap hostages into explosive vests

Partial transcripts of 911 calls made by the gunman who slaughtered 49 people at a gay nightclub in Florida were released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Monday. "It's been one week since the shooting. As you all know, this is a very thorough and comprehensive investigation of the largest mass shooting we've had, the most significant terrorist act since 9/11. No stone is being left unturned," US Attorney Lee Bentley said during a press conference held to announce the release of the transcripts. During one of the calls Omar Mateen made from the Pulse nightclub in downtown Orlando, he threatened to blow up a car rigged with bombs and to strap hostages into explosive vests, according to the transcript. "You people are gonna get it, and I'm gonna ignite it if they try to do anything stupid," Omar Mateen said. No explosive vests or bombs were found in the nightclub or the suspect's car, however, the FBI said. Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, paused several times during the three-hour siege at the club to speak by phone with emergency dispatchers and police negotiators, as well as to post internet messages pledging allegiance to Islamist militant groups. "He does not represent the religion of Islam but a perverted view, which based on what we know today was inspired by extremist killers. We currently have no evidence that he was directed by a foreign terrorist group, but was radicalised domestically," said Ron Hopper, a FBI assistant special agent in charge. Mateen told an emergency dispatcher he was wearing an explosive vest like the kind they "used in France," apparently referring to the deadly assault in Paris last November by Islamic militants, according to the transcript. As patrons fled the club, they told police outside that the shooter said he was going to put four vests with bombs on victims within 15 minutes, the FBI said in its statement. Mateen is a New York-born US citizen and Florida resident of Afghan descent, who has been described by US officials as "self-radicalised" in his extremist sympathies. The partial transcripts originally did not include a pledge of loyalty that Mateen made to Islamic State's leader. Hopper told a news conference near the nightclub that only partial transcripts were released so as not to "propagate their rhetoric, their violent rhetoric." Later in the afternoon, the FBI changed course and released the excerpt without omissions. US House Speaker Paul Ryan accused the Obama administration of censoring references to the Islamic State militant group and called for the full transcripts to be released. Mateen identified himself as an "Islamic soldier," according to the FBI, and he told a negotiator to tell the United States to stop bombing Syria and Iraq. The Joint Terrorism Taskforce has conducted more than 500 interviews about the massacre, Hopper said, and has processed 600 pieces of evidence. Orlando Police Chief John Mina said the initial engagement by authorities caused the gunman to retreat and barricade himself in a bathroom with hostages. He said officers were inside the club saving victims during the three-hour standoff. "During that time, our officers were intermittently in and out saving people, rescuing people from inside the club," Mina said, rejecting any criticism that police had failed to act quickly enough to end the siege. Authorities have said preliminary evidence indicates Mateen was a mentally disturbed individual who acted alone and without direction from outside networks. The massacre at Pulse, which also left 53 people wounded, led to national mourning and soul-searching over easy access to firearms and the vulnerability to hate crimes of people in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. The killings also triggered an effort to break a long-standing stalemate in Congress over gun control. The Senate was set to vote on Monday on four competing measures - two from Democrats and two from Republicans - to expand background checks on gun buyers and curb gun sales for people on terrorism watch lists. (Reuters)

FBI releases partial transcripts of Orlando shooter's 911 calls

A top US lawmaker said today authorities were probing the Facebook activity of the Orlando nightclub shooter, after an investigation found Omar Mateen made extremist posts during the massacre and searched for news of his attack. 
 
Ron Johnson, the Republican chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg Wednesday asking the company to share specifics of five accounts apparently used by Mateen. 
 
Lawmakers are trying to determine if there are ways for intelligence and law enforcement communities to monitor social media platforms like Facebook &quot;so that we can prevent these tragedies,&quot; Johnson told CNN today. 
 
&quot;This is our job, to see what has happened in the past, what can we possibly do to prevent this from occurring in the future and how can we find bipartisan solutions,&quot; the Republican said. 
 
Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 in his shooting spree early Sunday at the Pulse gay nightclub in the Florida resort city of Orlando. Authorities have said he was apparently radicalized after watching jihadist propaganda online. 
 
In his letter to Zuckerberg, Johnson said Mateen apparently posted sometime during the attack that he was pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group&#39;s leader, and &quot;America and Russia stop bombing the Islamic state.&quot; 
 
He also allegedly posted: &quot;The real muslims will never accept the filthy ways of the west&quot; and &quot;In the next few days you will see attacks from the Islamic state in the USA.&quot; 
Mateen also allegedly searched for &quot;Pulse Orlando&quot; and &quot;Shooting,&quot; Johnson said. 
 
A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed the company has received the senator&#39;s letter, which asked Facebook to provide investigators with details of Mateen&#39;s Facebook accounts and activity. 
 
She said Facebook had not yet responded to the request but has been working with law enforcement from the outset of the investigation. 
Today, CNN reported that Mateen&#39;s wife suspected he was going to carry out an attack that night, even though he told her he was going out to see a friend. 
 
When the news of the shooting broke, 30-year-old Noor Mateen called him frantically, CNN said, citing unidentified sources. He didn&#39;t pick up, but texted her about 4am asking if she had seen the news. 
 
She responded: &quot;I love you,&quot; the report said. 
 
Authorities have refused to comment on reports that Mateen&#39;s wife would face charges over her alleged knowledge of Mateen&#39;s intentions to carry out an attack. 
(AFP)

He had made extremist posts during the attack. Also texted his wife asking if she had seen the news, she reportedly replied 'I love you'

A top US lawmaker said today authorities were probing the Facebook activity of the Orlando nightclub shooter, after an investigation found Omar Mateen made extremist posts during the massacre and searched for news of his attack. Ron Johnson, the Republican chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg Wednesday asking the company to share specifics of five accounts apparently used by Mateen. Lawmakers are trying to determine if there are ways for intelligence and law enforcement communities to monitor social media platforms like Facebook "so that we can prevent these tragedies," Johnson told CNN today. "This is our job, to see what has happened in the past, what can we possibly do to prevent this from occurring in the future and how can we find bipartisan solutions," the Republican said. Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 in his shooting spree early Sunday at the Pulse gay nightclub in the Florida resort city of Orlando. Authorities have said he was apparently radicalized after watching jihadist propaganda online. In his letter to Zuckerberg, Johnson said Mateen apparently posted sometime during the attack that he was pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group's leader, and "America and Russia stop bombing the Islamic state." He also allegedly posted: "The real muslims will never accept the filthy ways of the west" and "In the next few days you will see attacks from the Islamic state in the USA." Mateen also allegedly searched for "Pulse Orlando" and "Shooting," Johnson said. A Facebook spokeswoman confirmed the company has received the senator's letter, which asked Facebook to provide investigators with details of Mateen's Facebook accounts and activity. She said Facebook had not yet responded to the request but has been working with law enforcement from the outset of the investigation. Today, CNN reported that Mateen's wife suspected he was going to carry out an attack that night, even though he told her he was going out to see a friend. When the news of the shooting broke, 30-year-old Noor Mateen called him frantically, CNN said, citing unidentified sources. He didn't pick up, but texted her about 4am asking if she had seen the news. She responded: "I love you," the report said. Authorities have refused to comment on reports that Mateen's wife would face charges over her alleged knowledge of Mateen's intentions to carry out an attack. (AFP)

Authorities probe Mateen's Facebook activity

The wife of the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub knew of his plans for the attack and could soon be charged in connection with the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, a law enforcement source said today. 
 
The source told Reuters that a federal grand jury had been convened and could charge Omar Mateen&#39;s wife, Noor Salman, by today. 
 
&quot;It appears she had some knowledge of what was going on,&quot;&nbsp;said US Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which received a briefing on the attack on Tuesday. 
 
&quot;She definitely is, I guess you would say, a person of interest right now and appears to be cooperating and can provide us with some important information,&quot; King told CNN. 
 
Mateen, who was shot dead by police after a three-hour standoff at the Pulse club early on Sunday, called 911 during his rampage to profess allegiance to various militant Islamist groups. 
 
Federal investigators have said he was likely self-radicalised and there was no evidence that he received any instruction or aid from outside groups such as Islamic State. Mateen, 29, was a US citizen, born in New York of Afghan immigrant parents. 
 
&quot;He appears to have been an angry, disturbed, unstable young man who became radicalised,&quot; President Barack Obama told reporters after a meeting of the White House National Security Council. 
 
During his rampage, Mateen systematically made his way through the packed club shooting people who were already down, apparently to ensure they were dead, said Angel Colon, a wounded survivor. 
 
&quot;I look over and he shoots the girl next to me and I was just there laying down and thinking: &#39;I&#39;m next, I&#39;m dead,&#39;&quot; he said. 
 
Mateen shot him twice more, one bullet apparently aimed for Colon&#39;s head striking his hand, and another hitting his hip, Colon said at Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he is one of 27 survivors being treated 
 
FoxNews.com, citing an FBI source, said prosecutors were seeking to charge Mateen&#39;s wife, Salman, as an accessory to 49 counts of murder and 53 counts of attempted murder and failure to notify law enforcement about the pending attack and lying to federal agents. 
 
NBC News said Salman told federal agents she tried to talk her husband out of carrying out the attack. But she also told the FBI she once drove him to the Pulse nightclub because he wanted to scope it out, the network said. 
 
A former wife of Mateen, who was a security guard, has said he was mentally unstable and beat her. The ex-spouse, Sitora Yusufiy, said she fled their home after four months of marriage. 
 
He also claimed solidarity with the ethnic Chechen brothers who carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and with a Palestinian-American who became a suicide bomber in Syria for al Qaeda offshoot the Nusra Front, authorities said. 
 
&quot;We could hear him talking to 911 saying that the reason why he&rsquo;s doing this is because he wants America to stop bombing his country. From that conversation from 911 he pledges allegiance to ISIS,&quot; said Patience Carter, 20, who was trapped in a bathroom stall at the nightclub as Mateen prowled outside. 
 
LUCKY TO BE ALIVE 
 
Carter, from Philadelphia, read a poem to the media that she said she wrote to help her heal. 
 
&quot;Looking at the blood and debris covered on everyone&#39;s faces. Looking at the gunman&#39;s feet under the stall as he paces. 
 
The guilt of feeling lucky to be alive is heavy,&quot; the poem read. 
 
One official said investigators believe Mateen browsed militant Islamist material on the internet for two years or more before the shootings. 
 
Soon after the attack, Mateen&#39;s father indicated that his son had harboured strong anti-gay feelings. He recounted an incident when his son became angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami while out with his wife and son. 
 
US officials were investigating media reports that Mateen may have been gay but not openly so, and questioning whether that could have driven his attack, according to two people who have been briefed regularly on the investigation and requested anonymity to discuss it. 
 
The owner of Pulse, speaking through a representative, denied reports that Mateen had been a regular patron of the nightclub. 
 
&quot;Untrue and totally ridiculous,&quot; Sara Brady, a spokeswoman for club owner Barbara Poma, said in an e-mail when asked about the claim. 
 
Mateen&#39;s father, Seddique Mateen, told reporters his son had never mentioned being homosexual. &quot;I don&#39;t believe he was a whatever you call it,&quot; he said. 
 
Mateen&#39;s name was listed on an unclassified federal database for nearly a year from 2013 to 2014 after he allegedly told co-workers of sympathies he had with militants overseas, three federal officials familiar with the investigation told Reuters. 
 
He was removed from that so-called selectee list after the Federal Bureau of Investigation completed an investigation and concluded he had no connections with known militant groups.&nbsp; 
(Reuters)

She reportedly tried to talk him out of this plan but apparently drove him to the nightclub because he wanted to recce the spot

The wife of the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub knew of his plans for the attack and could soon be charged in connection with the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, a law enforcement source said today. The source told Reuters that a federal grand jury had been convened and could charge Omar Mateen's wife, Noor Salman, by today. "It appears she had some knowledge of what was going on," said US Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which received a briefing on the attack on Tuesday. "She definitely is, I guess you would say, a person of interest right now and appears to be cooperating and can provide us with some important information," King told CNN. Mateen, who was shot dead by police after a three-hour standoff at the Pulse club early on Sunday, called 911 during his rampage to profess allegiance to various militant Islamist groups. Federal investigators have said he was likely self-radicalised and there was no evidence that he received any instruction or aid from outside groups such as Islamic State. Mateen, 29, was a US citizen, born in New York of Afghan immigrant parents. "He appears to have been an angry, disturbed, unstable young man who became radicalised," President Barack Obama told reporters after a meeting of the White House National Security Council. During his rampage, Mateen systematically made his way through the packed club shooting people who were already down, apparently to ensure they were dead, said Angel Colon, a wounded survivor. "I look over and he shoots the girl next to me and I was just there laying down and thinking: 'I'm next, I'm dead,'" he said. Mateen shot him twice more, one bullet apparently aimed for Colon's head striking his hand, and another hitting his hip, Colon said at Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he is one of 27 survivors being treated FoxNews.com, citing an FBI source, said prosecutors were seeking to charge Mateen's wife, Salman, as an accessory to 49 counts of murder and 53 counts of attempted murder and failure to notify law enforcement about the pending attack and lying to federal agents. NBC News said Salman told federal agents she tried to talk her husband out of carrying out the attack. But she also told the FBI she once drove him to the Pulse nightclub because he wanted to scope it out, the network said. A former wife of Mateen, who was a security guard, has said he was mentally unstable and beat her. The ex-spouse, Sitora Yusufiy, said she fled their home after four months of marriage. He also claimed solidarity with the ethnic Chechen brothers who carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and with a Palestinian-American who became a suicide bomber in Syria for al Qaeda offshoot the Nusra Front, authorities said. "We could hear him talking to 911 saying that the reason why he’s doing this is because he wants America to stop bombing his country. From that conversation from 911 he pledges allegiance to ISIS," said Patience Carter, 20, who was trapped in a bathroom stall at the nightclub as Mateen prowled outside. LUCKY TO BE ALIVE Carter, from Philadelphia, read a poem to the media that she said she wrote to help her heal. "Looking at the blood and debris covered on everyone's faces. Looking at the gunman's feet under the stall as he paces. The guilt of feeling lucky to be alive is heavy," the poem read. One official said investigators believe Mateen browsed militant Islamist material on the internet for two years or more before the shootings. Soon after the attack, Mateen's father indicated that his son had harboured strong anti-gay feelings. He recounted an incident when his son became angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami while out with his wife and son. US officials were investigating media reports that Mateen may have been gay but not openly so, and questioning whether that could have driven his attack, according to two people who have been briefed regularly on the investigation and requested anonymity to discuss it. The owner of Pulse, speaking through a representative, denied reports that Mateen had been a regular patron of the nightclub. "Untrue and totally ridiculous," Sara Brady, a spokeswoman for club owner Barbara Poma, said in an e-mail when asked about the claim. Mateen's father, Seddique Mateen, told reporters his son had never mentioned being homosexual. "I don't believe he was a whatever you call it," he said. Mateen's name was listed on an unclassified federal database for nearly a year from 2013 to 2014 after he allegedly told co-workers of sympathies he had with militants overseas, three federal officials familiar with the investigation told Reuters. He was removed from that so-called selectee list after the Federal Bureau of Investigation completed an investigation and concluded he had no connections with known militant groups. (Reuters)

Police: Orlando shooter's wife knew about attack, may be charged soon

<div>The Afghan-born father of Omar Mateen, the man police identified as the gunman who fatally shot 50 at a packed gay nightclub in Florida on Sunday, is a fringe political commentator who rails against Pakistan and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. 
 
Seddique Mateen, who public records indicate is the father of Omar Mateen, had an occasional television show on a US-based Afghan satellite channel for about three years, and has continued to post political commentaries on his Facebook page as recently as Sunday. 
 
Omar Khatab, the owner of the California-based satellite channel Payam-e-Afghan, said in an interview that Seddique Mateen occasionally bought time on his channel to broadcast a show called &quot;Durand Jirga&quot; which focused in part on the disputed Durand Line, the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan demarcated by the Indian subcontinent&#39;s former British rulers. 
 
In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Seddique Mateen, also known as Mir Siddique, said his son&#39;s rampage had &quot;nothing to do with religion&quot;. 
 
He described an incident in downtown Miami in which his son, US-born Omar Mateen, 29, of Florida, saw two men kissing in front of his wife and child, and became very angry. 
 
&quot;We are saying we are apologising for the whole incident,&quot; Seddique Mateen said. &quot;We weren&#39;t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country.&quot; 
 
Khatab said Seddique Mateen would show up at his studio in Canoga Park, California, &quot;three or four times a year&quot; to tape his shows. 
 
&quot;He&#39;d talk for about two to three hours,&quot; Khatab said. &quot;He&#39;d buy his own time and come here and broadcast and leave within a day.&quot; 
 
Critical of Pakistan&#39;s ISI 
 
Khatab said Seddique Mateen&#39;s political views were largely anti-Pakistan. A YouTube channel under Mateen&#39;s name had more than 100 videos posted between 2012 and 2015. 
 
One of the videos refers to the &quot;killer ISI&quot; - the acronym for Pakistan&#39;s main military-run intelligence service - and says the agency is the &quot;creator and father of the world&#39;s terrorism.&quot; 
 
US officials have accused Pakistani intelligence of backing violence against US targets in Afghanistan, although Pakistan denies the allegations. 
 
US officials cautioned that they had no immediate evidence of any direct connection between the Florida attack and Islamic State or other foreign extremist group, nor had they uncovered any contacts between Omar Mateen and any such group. 
 
Fifty-three people were wounded in the rampage. It was the deadliest single US mass shooting incident, eclipsing the 2007 massacre of 32 people at Virginia Tech university. 
 
Seddique Mateen interviewed Ghani in January 2014, eight months before Ghani became president, according to a video posted on his YouTube channel. The interview touched on economic development and youth unemployment in Afghanistan. Khatab said Mateen conducted the interview in Kabul and brought it to California for broadcast. 
 
During the interview Mateen praised Ghani but by the following year had changed his views, apparently angered by Ghani&#39;s outreach to Pakistan in his bid to start peace talks with the Taliban. In a 2015 video, Mateen declared his own candidacy for the Afghan presidency, even though there was no election at that time. 
 
In the videos, he wears a Western suit and tie and speaks Dari, a dialect of Persian spoken in northern Afghanistan. He harshly criticizes Ghani&#39;s policies both at home and abroad and lashes out at Pakistan, its intelligence service, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and some senior Afghan government officials and jihadist figures. 
 
In a February video on his Facebook page, he addresses Taliban members and castigates them for being the &quot;servants&quot; of the ISI. 
 
In a June 11 video posted on Facebook, Mateen is dressed in military fatigues and says Afghanistan must &quot;punish the traitors.&quot; 
 
&quot;I wish a hero one day removes Ashraf Ghani&#39;s turban and slaps this crazy man,&quot; he said in the video. &quot;This traitor has rolled up his sleeves to destroy our country.&quot;</div>

Seddique Mateen, father of Orlando gunman Omar Mateen, criticised Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and lashed out at Pakistan on his shows

The Afghan-born father of Omar Mateen, the man police identified as the gunman who fatally shot 50 at a packed gay nightclub in Florida on Sunday, is a fringe political commentator who rails against Pakistan and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Seddique Mateen, who public records indicate is the father of Omar Mateen, had an occasional television show on a US-based Afghan satellite channel for about three years, and has continued to post political commentaries on his Facebook page as recently as Sunday. Omar Khatab, the owner of the California-based satellite channel Payam-e-Afghan, said in an interview that Seddique Mateen occasionally bought time on his channel to broadcast a show called "Durand Jirga" which focused in part on the disputed Durand Line, the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan demarcated by the Indian subcontinent's former British rulers. In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Seddique Mateen, also known as Mir Siddique, said his son's rampage had "nothing to do with religion". He described an incident in downtown Miami in which his son, US-born Omar Mateen, 29, of Florida, saw two men kissing in front of his wife and child, and became very angry. "We are saying we are apologising for the whole incident," Seddique Mateen said. "We weren't aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country." Khatab said Seddique Mateen would show up at his studio in Canoga Park, California, "three or four times a year" to tape his shows. "He'd talk for about two to three hours," Khatab said. "He'd buy his own time and come here and broadcast and leave within a day." Critical of Pakistan's ISI Khatab said Seddique Mateen's political views were largely anti-Pakistan. A YouTube channel under Mateen's name had more than 100 videos posted between 2012 and 2015. One of the videos refers to the "killer ISI" - the acronym for Pakistan's main military-run intelligence service - and says the agency is the "creator and father of the world's terrorism." US officials have accused Pakistani intelligence of backing violence against US targets in Afghanistan, although Pakistan denies the allegations. US officials cautioned that they had no immediate evidence of any direct connection between the Florida attack and Islamic State or other foreign extremist group, nor had they uncovered any contacts between Omar Mateen and any such group. Fifty-three people were wounded in the rampage. It was the deadliest single US mass shooting incident, eclipsing the 2007 massacre of 32 people at Virginia Tech university. Seddique Mateen interviewed Ghani in January 2014, eight months before Ghani became president, according to a video posted on his YouTube channel. The interview touched on economic development and youth unemployment in Afghanistan. Khatab said Mateen conducted the interview in Kabul and brought it to California for broadcast. During the interview Mateen praised Ghani but by the following year had changed his views, apparently angered by Ghani's outreach to Pakistan in his bid to start peace talks with the Taliban. In a 2015 video, Mateen declared his own candidacy for the Afghan presidency, even though there was no election at that time. In the videos, he wears a Western suit and tie and speaks Dari, a dialect of Persian spoken in northern Afghanistan. He harshly criticizes Ghani's policies both at home and abroad and lashes out at Pakistan, its intelligence service, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and some senior Afghan government officials and jihadist figures. In a February video on his Facebook page, he addresses Taliban members and castigates them for being the "servants" of the ISI. In a June 11 video posted on Facebook, Mateen is dressed in military fatigues and says Afghanistan must "punish the traitors." "I wish a hero one day removes Ashraf Ghani's turban and slaps this crazy man," he said in the video. "This traitor has rolled up his sleeves to destroy our country."

Orlando shooting: Father of gunman hosted political show on Afghan-Pak issues

The Afghan-born father of Omar Mateen, the man police identified as the gunman who killed 50 people at a packed gay nightclub in Florida on Sunday, is a fringe political commentator who rails against Pakistan and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. 
 
Seddique Mateen, who public records indicate is the father of Omar Mateen, had an occasional television show on a US-based Afghan satellite channel for about three years, and has continued to post political commentaries on his Facebook page as recently as Sunday. 
 
Omar Khatab, the owner of the California-based satellite channel Payam-e-Afghan, said in an interview that Seddique Mateen occasionally bought time on his channel to broadcast a show called &quot;Durand Jirga,&quot; which focused in part on the disputed Durand Line, the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan demarcated by the Indian subcontinent&#39;s former British rulers. 
 
In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Seddique Mateen, also known as Mir Siddique, said his son&#39;s rampage had &quot;nothing to do with religion.&quot; 
 
He described an incident in downtown Miami in which his son, US-born Omar Mateen, 29, of Florida, saw two men kissing in front of his wife and child and became very angry. 
 
&quot;We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident,&quot; Seddique Mateen said. &quot;We weren&#39;t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country.&quot; 
 
Khatab said Seddique Mateen would show up at his studio in Canoga Park, California, &quot;three or four times a year&quot; to tape his shows. 
 
&quot;He&#39;d talk for about two to three hours,&quot; Khatab said. &quot;He&#39;d buy his own time and come here and broadcast and leave within a day.&quot; 
 
CRITICAL OF PAKISTAN&#39;S ISI 
 
Khatab said Seddique Mateen&#39;s political views were largely anti-Pakistan. A YouTube channel under Mateen&#39;s name had more than 100 videos posted between 2012 and 2015. 
 
One of the videos refers to the &quot;killer ISI&quot; - the acronym for Pakistan&#39;s main military-run intelligence service - and says the agency is the &quot;creator and father of the world&#39;s terrorism.&quot; 
 
US officials have accused Pakistani intelligence of backing violence against US targets in Afghanistan, although Pakistan denies the allegations. 
 
US officials cautioned that they had no immediate evidence of any direct connection between the Florida attack and Islamic State or other foreign extremist group, nor had they uncovered any contacts between Omar Mateen and any such group. 
 
Fifty-three people were wounded in the rampage. It was the deadliest single US mass shooting incident, eclipsing the 2007 massacre of 32 people at Virginia Tech university. 
 
Seddique Mateen interviewed Ghani in January 2014, eight months before Ghani became president, according to a video posted on his YouTube channel. The interview touched on economic development and youth unemployment in Afghanistan. Khatab said Mateen conducted the interview in Kabul and brought it to California for broadcast. 
 
During the interview Mateen praised Ghani but by the following year had changed his views, apparently angered by Ghani&#39;s outreach to Pakistan in his bid to start peace talks with the Taliban. In a 2015 video, Mateen declared his own candidacy for the Afghan presidency, even though there was no election at that time. 
 
In the videos, he wears a Western suit and tie and speaks Dari, a dialect of Persian spoken in northern Afghanistan. He harshly criticizes Ghani&#39;s policies both at home and abroad and lashes out at Pakistan, its intelligence service, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and some senior Afghan government officials and jihadist figures. 
 
In a February video on his Facebook page, he addresses Taliban members and castigates them for being the &quot;servants&quot; of the ISI. 
 
In a June 11 video posted on Facebook, Mateen is dressed in military fatigues and says Afghanistan must &quot;punish the traitors.&quot; 
 
&quot;I wish a hero one day removes Ashraf Ghani&#39;s turban and slaps this crazy man,&quot; he said in the video. &quot;This traitor has rolled up his sleeves to destroy our country.&quot;

The Afghan-born father of Omar Mateen, the man police identified as the gunman who killed 50 people at a packed gay nightclub in Florida on Sunday, is a fringe political commentator who rails against Pakistan and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Seddique Mateen, who public records indicate is the father of Omar Mateen, had an occasional television show on a US-based Afghan satellite channel for about three years, and has continued to post political commentaries on his Facebook page as recently as Sunday. Omar Khatab, the owner of the California-based satellite channel Payam-e-Afghan, said in an interview that Seddique Mateen occasionally bought time on his channel to broadcast a show called "Durand Jirga," which focused in part on the disputed Durand Line, the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan demarcated by the Indian subcontinent's former British rulers. In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Seddique Mateen, also known as Mir Siddique, said his son's rampage had "nothing to do with religion." He described an incident in downtown Miami in which his son, US-born Omar Mateen, 29, of Florida, saw two men kissing in front of his wife and child and became very angry. "We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident," Seddique Mateen said. "We weren't aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country." Khatab said Seddique Mateen would show up at his studio in Canoga Park, California, "three or four times a year" to tape his shows. "He'd talk for about two to three hours," Khatab said. "He'd buy his own time and come here and broadcast and leave within a day." CRITICAL OF PAKISTAN'S ISI Khatab said Seddique Mateen's political views were largely anti-Pakistan. A YouTube channel under Mateen's name had more than 100 videos posted between 2012 and 2015. One of the videos refers to the "killer ISI" - the acronym for Pakistan's main military-run intelligence service - and says the agency is the "creator and father of the world's terrorism." US officials have accused Pakistani intelligence of backing violence against US targets in Afghanistan, although Pakistan denies the allegations. US officials cautioned that they had no immediate evidence of any direct connection between the Florida attack and Islamic State or other foreign extremist group, nor had they uncovered any contacts between Omar Mateen and any such group. Fifty-three people were wounded in the rampage. It was the deadliest single US mass shooting incident, eclipsing the 2007 massacre of 32 people at Virginia Tech university. Seddique Mateen interviewed Ghani in January 2014, eight months before Ghani became president, according to a video posted on his YouTube channel. The interview touched on economic development and youth unemployment in Afghanistan. Khatab said Mateen conducted the interview in Kabul and brought it to California for broadcast. During the interview Mateen praised Ghani but by the following year had changed his views, apparently angered by Ghani's outreach to Pakistan in his bid to start peace talks with the Taliban. In a 2015 video, Mateen declared his own candidacy for the Afghan presidency, even though there was no election at that time. In the videos, he wears a Western suit and tie and speaks Dari, a dialect of Persian spoken in northern Afghanistan. He harshly criticizes Ghani's policies both at home and abroad and lashes out at Pakistan, its intelligence service, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and some senior Afghan government officials and jihadist figures. In a February video on his Facebook page, he addresses Taliban members and castigates them for being the "servants" of the ISI. In a June 11 video posted on Facebook, Mateen is dressed in military fatigues and says Afghanistan must "punish the traitors." "I wish a hero one day removes Ashraf Ghani's turban and slaps this crazy man," he said in the video. "This traitor has rolled up his sleeves to destroy our country."

Orlando shooting: father of the gunman hosted political show on Afghan-Pak issues

The photo from Omar Mateen&rsquo;s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. 
 
His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America&#39;s worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. 
 
As families of the victims grieved, and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. 
 
Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 people before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. 
 
His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as &quot;bipolar,&quot; and emotionally disturbed with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he would &quot;express hatred towards everything&quot;. She was &quot;rescued&quot; by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. 
 
&quot;He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life most of the violence was directed towards me,&rdquo; she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. 
 
She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention center for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. 
 
In Fort Pierce on Florida&rsquo;s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. 
 
&quot;He hardly had any friends,&quot; Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said. &quot;He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave.&quot; 
 
Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he didn&#39;t display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers. 
 
Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. 
 
A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. 
 
Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday&rsquo;s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. 
 
King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. 
 
&ldquo;What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday&rsquo;s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us.&quot; 
 
While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and &quot;got really buff,&quot; King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. &ldquo;Something must have changed&quot; since he last saw him, he added. 
 
Mateen&#39;s father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. 
 
FBI INTERVIEWS 
 
The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. 
 
At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world&#39;s largest private security firms. 
 
He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. 
 
G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. 
 
Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was &ldquo;unable to verify the substance of his comments,&rdquo; Hopper said. 
 
Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. &quot;Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he&rsquo;d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder,&quot; Kime said. 
 
Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen&#39;s at G4S, said that Mateen&#39;s anger was &quot;constant.&quot; 
 
&quot;Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words,&quot; he said. 
 
In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. 
 
Hopper said Mateen&rsquo;s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that &ldquo;he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.&rdquo; 
 
&#39;NOT A STABLE PERSON&#39; 
 
Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday&rsquo;s attack. 
 
He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. 
 
Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. 
 
Mateen&#39;s former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. 
 
&quot;He was not a stable person,&quot; she said. &quot;He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn&#39;t finished or something like that.&quot; 
 
Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. 
 
City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen&#39;s apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate.

Wife of the gunman, who killed at least 50 people in a shooting rampage at a gay club in Orlando, said he was 'bipolar' and often beat her

The photo from Omar Mateen’s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America's worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. As families of the victims grieved, and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 people before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as "bipolar," and emotionally disturbed with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he would "express hatred towards everything". She was "rescued" by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. "He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life most of the violence was directed towards me,” she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention center for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. In Fort Pierce on Florida’s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. "He hardly had any friends," Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said. "He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave." Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he didn't display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers. Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. “What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday’s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us." While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and "got really buff," King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. “Something must have changed" since he last saw him, he added. Mateen's father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. FBI INTERVIEWS The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world's largest private security firms. He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was “unable to verify the substance of his comments,” Hopper said. Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. "Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he’d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder," Kime said. Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen's at G4S, said that Mateen's anger was "constant." "Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words," he said. In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. Hopper said Mateen’s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that “he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.” 'NOT A STABLE PERSON' Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday’s attack. He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. Mateen's former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. "He was not a stable person," 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." Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen's apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate.

Orlando shooting: gunman described as 'quiet', but grew hateful, anti-gay

<div>The photo from Omar Mateen&rsquo;s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. 
 
His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America&#39;s worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. 
 
As families of the victims grieved, and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. 
 
Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and a AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. 
 
His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as &quot;bipolar&quot;&nbsp;and emotionally disturbed, with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he &quot;expresed&nbsp;hatred towards everything&quot;. She was &quot;rescued&quot; by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. 
 
&quot;He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life, most of the violence was directed towards me,&rdquo; she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. 
 
She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention centre for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. 
 
In Fort Pierce on Florida&rsquo;s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. 
 
&quot;He hardly had any friends,&quot; Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said. &quot;He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave.&quot; 
 
Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he did&nbsp;not&nbsp;display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers. 
 
Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent, but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. 
 
A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. 
 
Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday&rsquo;s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. 
 
King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. 
 
&ldquo;What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday&rsquo;s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us.&quot; 
 
While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and &quot;got really buff,&quot; King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. &ldquo;Something must have changed&quot; since he last saw him, he added. 
 
Mateen&#39;s father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. 
 
FBI interviews 
 
The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. 
 
At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world&#39;s largest private security firms. 
 
He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. 
 
G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. 
 
Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was &ldquo;unable to verify the substance of his comments,&rdquo; Hopper said. 
 
Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. &quot;Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he&rsquo;d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder,&quot; Kime said. 
 
Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen&#39;s at G4S, said that Mateen&#39;s anger was &quot;constant.&quot; 
 
&quot;Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words,&quot; he said. 
 
In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. 
 
Hopper said Mateen&rsquo;s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that &ldquo;he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.&rdquo; 
 
&#39;Not a stable person&#39; 
 
Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday&rsquo;s attack. 
 
He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. 
 
Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. 
 
Mateen&#39;s former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. 
 
&quot;He was not a stable person,&quot; she said. &quot;He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn&#39;t finished or something like that.&quot; 
 
Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. 
 
City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen&#39;s apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate.</div>

Wife of the gunman, who shot down at least 50 at a gay club in Orlando, said he was 'bipolar' and often beat her

The photo from Omar Mateen’s high school yearbook is hardly remarkable - a toothy, dimpled smile with a peach-fuzz mustache below a mop of black hair. His transformation from high school football player to perpetrator of America's worst mass shooting raises questions about whether red flags were missed over the depth of his apparent sympathies with Muslim extremists. As families of the victims grieved, and the nation recoiled at the scale of yet another mass shooting, a picture began to emerge of the 29-year-old killer as a quiet, devout person who in recent years displayed a hateful and violent streak. Early on Sunday, he stormed a packed gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, with a handgun and a AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 50 before police killed him. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described him as "bipolar" and emotionally disturbed, with a violent temper. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts in which he "expresed hatred towards everything". She was "rescued" by family members just four months into a stormy marriage that began in 2009 and ended in divorce, she said. "He would often get into fights with his parents, but as I was the only one in his life, most of the violence was directed towards me,” she told reporters in Boulder, Colorado outside a home where she was staying. She said he aspired to be a police officer and had worked as a correctional officer at a detention centre for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. In Fort Pierce on Florida’s southeast coast, 120 miles (195 km) from the shooting, the imam at the mosque that Mateen attended for nearly 10 years described him as a regular worshipper who was quiet and rarely interacted with the congregation. "He hardly had any friends," Syed Shafeeq Rahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said. "He would come with his little son at night to pray and after he would leave." Rahman said Mateen never approached him regarding any concerns about homosexuals. He usually prayed at the mosque a few times a week, mostly in evenings and as recently as Friday, but he did not display signs of radicalism, according to fellow worshippers. Mateen was born in New York of Afghan descent, but spent most of his life in Florida, attending Martin County High School in Stuart, a small city about a 20-minute drive from the Fort Pierce condominium where had most recently lived. A classmate described him as a typical teen who played football. Samuel King, who was one year ahead of Mateen, said the two often spoke after Mateen graduated in 2004. King waited tables at Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant at Treasure Coast Square, a mall where Mateen worked at GNC, the nutrition store, he said. King, who is openly gay, said the Mateen he knew until 2009 did not appear to be anti-homosexual. “What is shocking to me is that the majority of the staff at Ruby Tuesday’s when I worked there were gay. He clearly was not anti-(gay) at least not back then. He did not show any hatred to any of us." While at GNC, Mateen lifted weights and "got really buff," King said, describing Mateen as gregarious and talkative in the immediate years after high school. “Something must have changed" since he last saw him, he added. Mateen's father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News the massacre was not related to religion. He said his son turned angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago. FBI interviews The FBI twice interviewed Mateen for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants, FBI special agent in charge Ron Hopper told a news conference in Orlando. At the time, Mateen worked as a security guard at G4S, a British-owned multinational company that is among the world's largest private security firms. He joined G4S in September 2007, carried a gun as part of his duties and was employed with the company at the time of the shooting as an armed security officer, the company said. G4S provides security to federal buildings in Florida. Mateen was investigated and interviewed twice but the FBI was “unable to verify the substance of his comments,” Hopper said. Daniel Kime, a security guard employed along with Mateen at G4S in the Fort Pierce area, said he met Mateen briefly three or four times. "Every time I saw him he never smiled. If you said good morning, he’d just walk right by you, like he had a chip on his shoulder," Kime said. Daniel Gilroy, who said he was a co-worker of Mateen's at G4S, said that Mateen's anger was "constant." "Any time a female or a black person would come by he would use horrible words," he said. In 2014, Hopper said, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. Hopper said Mateen’s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and it was deemed that “he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.” 'Not a stable person' Hopper said Mateen was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday’s attack. He said Mateen called during the massacre to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of that commitment is unclear. Mateen also mentioned the Boston Marathon bombers during the call, which he made 20 minutes into the shootings, authorities said. Mateen's former wife said she met Mateen online about eight years ago and decided to move to Florida to marry him, according to the Washington Post. "He was not a stable person," 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." Mateen had a Florida firearms license that expired in 2013 and a state permit to work as a security guard, according to public records. He was registered as a Democrat. City, state and federal officials were searching Mateen's apartment in the Woodlands condominium building in Fort Pierce and had told other residents to evacuate.

Orlando shooting: Gunman described as 'quiet', but grew hateful, anti-gay

A man armed with an assault rifle and pledging loyalty to Islamic State militants killed 50 people during a gay pride celebration at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, early on Sunday in the deadliest mass shooting in US history, a rampage President Barack Obama denounced as an act of terror and hate. 
 
Police killed the gunman, who was identified as Omar Mateen, 29, a New York-born Florida resident and US citizen who was the son of immigrants from Afghanistan and had twice been questioned by FBI agents in recent years, authorities said. 
 
Mateen&#39;s former wife described him as emotionally and mentally disturbed with a violent temper, yet who aspired to be a police officer. He also worked as an armed guard for the security firm G4S, the world&#39;s largest, according to the company. 
 
Law enforcement officials probing for evidence suggested the attack was inspired by Islamic State militants, although they said there was no proof that Mateen had worked directly with the group. 
 
As the shooting rampage was unfolding, Mateen &quot;made calls to 911 this morning in which he stated his allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State&quot;, said Ronald Hopper, the FBI&#39;s assistant special agent in charge on the case. 
 
Shots rang out at the crowded Pulse nightclub in the heart of Orlando, one of the most popular US tourist destinations, as some 350 patrons were attending a Latin music event in conjunction with gay pride week celebrations. Clubgoers described scenes of terror and pandemonium, with one man who escaped saying he hid under a car and bandaged a wounded stranger with his shirt. 
 
&quot;Words cannot and will not describe the feeling of that&quot;, Joshua McGill said in a posting on Facebook. &quot;Being covered in blood. Trying to save a guy&#39;s life&quot;. 
 
The rampage also saw 53 wounded. It ranked as the deadliest single US mass shooting incident, eclipsing the massacre of 32 people at Virginia Tech University in 2007. 
 
&quot;We know enough to say this was an act of terror, an act of hate&quot;, Obama said in a speech from the White House. &quot;As Americans, we are united in grief, in outrage and in resolve to defend our people.&quot; 
 
US officials cautioned, however, they had no conclusive evidence of any direct connection with any foreign extremist group. 
 
&quot;So far as we know at this time, his first direct contact was a pledge of bayat (loyalty) he made during the massacre,&quot; said a US counterterrorism official. &quot;This guy appears to have been pretty screwed up without any help from anybody.&quot; 
 
The attacker was carrying an AR-15-style assault rifle and a handgun, Orange County sheriff Jerry Demings said. He also had an unidentified &quot;device&quot;, said Orlando police chief John Mina. 
 
The shooting was nearly certain to reignite emotional debates over American gun laws and homeland security in what is shaping up to be a vitriolic US presidential campaign between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. 
 
The attack came six months after a married couple in California - a US-born son of Pakistani immigrants and a Pakistani-born woman he married in Saudi Arabia, fatally shot 14 people in San Bernardino in an attack inspired by Islamic State. 
 
That couple died in a shootout with police hours after their attack on a holiday party attended by the husband&#39;s co-workers. 
 
 
&#39;UNIMAGINABLE&#39; 
 
The Florida shooting evolved into a hostage situation, which a team of SWAT officers ended around dawn when they used armoured cars to storm the club before killing the gunman. It was unclear when the victims were killed. 
 
Officials in Orlando, a city of 270,000 people and home to tourist attractions including the Disney World resort, were visibly shocked at the high death toll, which they had initially put at 20. 
 
&quot;We&#39;re dealing with something that we never imagined and is unimaginable,&quot; Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer said. He said 39 people died inside the club, two outside, and nine others died after being rushed to hospital. 
 
Orlando Regional Medical Center hospital said it had admitted 44 victims, including nine who died, and had carried out 26 operations on victims. 
 
The city began releasing names of the victims on Sunday, with the first seven identified as Edward Sotomayor Jr., Stanley Almodovar, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, Juan Ramon Guerrero, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, Peter Gonzalez-Cruz and Luis Vielma. 
 
Mateen had twice been interviewed by FBI agents, in 2013 and 2014, after making comments to co-workers indicating he supported militant groups, but neither interview led to evidence of criminal activity, Hopper said.&nbsp; 
 
Hopper said Mateen was questioned in 2014 about his contacts with Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, a US citizen who also had lived in Florida and became a suicide bomber in Syria that year. 
 
Near Boulder, Colorado, Mateen&#39;s former wife, Sitora Yusufiy, told reporters he worked for a time as a correctional officer at a detention center for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. 
 
She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts of temper in which he would &quot;express hatred towards everything&quot;. Eventually, she was &quot;rescued&quot; from Mateen by family members who intervened in a stormy marriage that ultimately ended in divorce, she said. 
 
&quot;I know he had a history of steroids&quot;, Yusufiy told reporters outside a home where she was staying with a man she identified as her current fiance. She also described Mateen as &quot;emotionally unstable&quot;, &quot;mentally ill&quot; and bipolar. 
 
Deborah Sherman, an FBI spokeswoman in Denver, confirmed that federal agents had interviewed Yusufiy in Colorado. 
 
The imam of the Florida mosque where Mateen attended prayers for nearly ten years described him as a soft-spoken man who would visit regularly but rarely interact with others in the congregation. 
 
CANDIDATES WEIGH IN 
 
Within hours of the shooting, the presumptive presidential nominees of both major political parties weighed in with statements on the tragedy. 
 
Trump, who has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, said he was &quot;right on radical Islamic terrorism&quot; and called on Obama to resign because he did not say the words &quot;radical Islam&quot; in his statement responding to the shooting. 
 
Clinton echoed Obama&#39;s comments calling the attack both an act of terror and a hate crime, adding that the massacre &quot;reminds us once more that weapons of war have no place on our streets&quot;. 
 
If confirmed as an act of terrorism, it would be the deadliest such attack on US soil since September 11, 2001, when al Qaeda-trained hijackers crashed jetliners into New York&#39;s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing some 3,000 people. 
 
The choice of target was especially heart-wrenching for members of the US lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, said LGBT advocacy group Equality Florida. 
 
&quot;Gay clubs hold a significant place in LGBTQ history. They were often the only safe gathering place and this horrific act strikes directly at our sense of safety,&quot; the group said in a statement. &quot;We will await the details in tears of sadness and anger.&quot; 
 
In an apparently unrelated incident on Sunday, a heavily armed man from Indiana who said he was headed to a Los Angeles-area gay pride festival was arrested in nearby Santa Monica, California, where police found guns and chemicals to make explosives in his car.&nbsp;

Omar Mateen opened fire during a gay pride celebration at a nightclub -- officials to decide if it's terrorism or a hate crime

A man armed with an assault rifle and pledging loyalty to Islamic State militants killed 50 people during a gay pride celebration at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, early on Sunday in the deadliest mass shooting in US history, a rampage President Barack Obama denounced as an act of terror and hate. Police killed the gunman, who was identified as Omar Mateen, 29, a New York-born Florida resident and US citizen who was the son of immigrants from Afghanistan and had twice been questioned by FBI agents in recent years, authorities said. Mateen's former wife described him as emotionally and mentally disturbed with a violent temper, yet who aspired to be a police officer. He also worked as an armed guard for the security firm G4S, the world's largest, according to the company. Law enforcement officials probing for evidence suggested the attack was inspired by Islamic State militants, although they said there was no proof that Mateen had worked directly with the group. As the shooting rampage was unfolding, Mateen "made calls to 911 this morning in which he stated his allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State", said Ronald Hopper, the FBI's assistant special agent in charge on the case. Shots rang out at the crowded Pulse nightclub in the heart of Orlando, one of the most popular US tourist destinations, as some 350 patrons were attending a Latin music event in conjunction with gay pride week celebrations. Clubgoers described scenes of terror and pandemonium, with one man who escaped saying he hid under a car and bandaged a wounded stranger with his shirt. "Words cannot and will not describe the feeling of that", Joshua McGill said in a posting on Facebook. "Being covered in blood. Trying to save a guy's life". The rampage also saw 53 wounded. It ranked as the deadliest single US mass shooting incident, eclipsing the massacre of 32 people at Virginia Tech University in 2007. "We know enough to say this was an act of terror, an act of hate", Obama said in a speech from the White House. "As Americans, we are united in grief, in outrage and in resolve to defend our people." US officials cautioned, however, they had no conclusive evidence of any direct connection with any foreign extremist group. "So far as we know at this time, his first direct contact was a pledge of bayat (loyalty) he made during the massacre," said a US counterterrorism official. "This guy appears to have been pretty screwed up without any help from anybody." The attacker was carrying an AR-15-style assault rifle and a handgun, Orange County sheriff Jerry Demings said. He also had an unidentified "device", said Orlando police chief John Mina. The shooting was nearly certain to reignite emotional debates over American gun laws and homeland security in what is shaping up to be a vitriolic US presidential campaign between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. The attack came six months after a married couple in California - a US-born son of Pakistani immigrants and a Pakistani-born woman he married in Saudi Arabia, fatally shot 14 people in San Bernardino in an attack inspired by Islamic State. That couple died in a shootout with police hours after their attack on a holiday party attended by the husband's co-workers. 'UNIMAGINABLE' The Florida shooting evolved into a hostage situation, which a team of SWAT officers ended around dawn when they used armoured cars to storm the club before killing the gunman. It was unclear when the victims were killed. Officials in Orlando, a city of 270,000 people and home to tourist attractions including the Disney World resort, were visibly shocked at the high death toll, which they had initially put at 20. "We're dealing with something that we never imagined and is unimaginable," Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer said. He said 39 people died inside the club, two outside, and nine others died after being rushed to hospital. Orlando Regional Medical Center hospital said it had admitted 44 victims, including nine who died, and had carried out 26 operations on victims. The city began releasing names of the victims on Sunday, with the first seven identified as Edward Sotomayor Jr., Stanley Almodovar, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, Juan Ramon Guerrero, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, Peter Gonzalez-Cruz and Luis Vielma. Mateen had twice been interviewed by FBI agents, in 2013 and 2014, after making comments to co-workers indicating he supported militant groups, but neither interview led to evidence of criminal activity, Hopper said. Hopper said Mateen was questioned in 2014 about his contacts with Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, a US citizen who also had lived in Florida and became a suicide bomber in Syria that year. Near Boulder, Colorado, Mateen's former wife, Sitora Yusufiy, told reporters he worked for a time as a correctional officer at a detention center for juvenile delinquents in Fort Pierce, Florida, and had once sought admission to a police academy. She said she had been beaten and otherwise physically abused by Mateen during outbursts of temper in which he would "express hatred towards everything". Eventually, she was "rescued" from Mateen by family members who intervened in a stormy marriage that ultimately ended in divorce, she said. "I know he had a history of steroids", Yusufiy told reporters outside a home where she was staying with a man she identified as her current fiance. She also described Mateen as "emotionally unstable", "mentally ill" and bipolar. Deborah Sherman, an FBI spokeswoman in Denver, confirmed that federal agents had interviewed Yusufiy in Colorado. The imam of the Florida mosque where Mateen attended prayers for nearly ten years described him as a soft-spoken man who would visit regularly but rarely interact with others in the congregation. CANDIDATES WEIGH IN Within hours of the shooting, the presumptive presidential nominees of both major political parties weighed in with statements on the tragedy. Trump, who has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, said he was "right on radical Islamic terrorism" and called on Obama to resign because he did not say the words "radical Islam" in his statement responding to the shooting. Clinton echoed Obama's comments calling the attack both an act of terror and a hate crime, adding that the massacre "reminds us once more that weapons of war have no place on our streets". If confirmed as an act of terrorism, it would be the deadliest such attack on US soil since September 11, 2001, when al Qaeda-trained hijackers crashed jetliners into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing some 3,000 people. The choice of target was especially heart-wrenching for members of the US lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, said LGBT advocacy group Equality Florida. "Gay clubs hold a significant place in LGBTQ history. They were often the only safe gathering place and this horrific act strikes directly at our sense of safety," the group said in a statement. "We will await the details in tears of sadness and anger." In an apparently unrelated incident on Sunday, a heavily armed man from Indiana who said he was headed to a Los Angeles-area gay pride festival was arrested in nearby Santa Monica, California, where police found guns and chemicals to make explosives in his car.

Biggest mass-shooting in US history: 50 dead in Florida gay nightclub

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