As US investigators on Tuesday worked to untangle the complicated motive of the “radicalized” gunman behind the massacre at a gay club in Orlando, reports emerged that the killer was a regular visitor at the venue.
Witnesses are reported to have told US media outlets that he frequented the popular nightspot and used gay dating apps.
Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old American of Afghan descent, allegedly pledged allegiance to the leader of the Daesh group in the midst of his killing spree, officials say the worst mass shooting in US history. Thousands of people gathered in Orlando late Monday for a vigil honoring the victims, who ranged in age from 18 to 50. The shooting hit the city’s Latino community hard, the club was hosting a “Latin Night” when the attack occurred.
Forty-nine people were killed and another 53 wounded after Mateen opened fire early Sunday at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, a resort city in central Florida mainly known as the home to Walt Disney World and other amusement parks. The Washington Posts ran a headline, which was later found to have been withdrawn, that said “Mateen said to be patron of club he terrorized.” If the Washington Post report is to be believed, the man, who is being bracketed as an “Islamist” was a drinker and a frequent visitor to pubs and bars.
Mateen was killed in a shootout with police when they stormed the venue, freeing dozens of people trapped inside for about three hours after the assault began.
The FBI said Monday it was “highly confident” that Mateen had been self-radicalized by reading extremist propaganda online.
But the investigation took a new twist after witnesses said Mateen had been a regular at Pulse.
“Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent,” Ty Smith told the Orlando Sentinel, noting he had seen Mateen at the club at least a dozen times.

Source: Arab News