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                    What Is Known About the Orlando Shooter

   by Ken Bredemeier

   U.S. law enforcement officials say that the 29-year-old man suspected
   of killing 50 people at an Orlando, Florida, gay nightclub pledged
   allegiance to Islamic State shortly before the attack.

   They said the suspect, Omar Saddiqui Mateen, called the 911 emergency
   line in the city shortly before the attack early Sunday, identified
   himself and vowed fealty to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
   Mateen also made a reference to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing
   carried out by two brothers of Chechen descent that killed three people
   and injured more than 260 others.

   U.S. President Barack Obama called the mayhem at the Orlando nightclub,
   the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, "an act of terror and an
   act of hate." Another 53 people were shot and woulded, with many of
   them in critical condition.

   But Obama cautioned that the investigation of the carnage is still in
   its early stages and that "no definitive judgment" has been made on the
   shooter's motivation.

   ''Homophobia as motive?

   Mateen's father, Mir Seddique, told the NBC television network that his
   son may have been motivated by homophobia and not by his Muslim faith.

   "This had nothing to do with religion," Seddique said as he recalled a
   recent incident in downtown Miami, another Florida city.

   "He saw two men kissing each other in front of his wife and kid and he
   got very angry," the father said. "They were kissing each other and
   touching each other and he said, 'Look at that. In front of my son they
   are doing that.' And then we were in the men's bathroom and men were
   kissing each other."

   Seddique apologized to the victims of the shooting at Pulse, which
   calls itself the "hottest gay bar in Orlando." Seddique said relatives
   "weren't aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the
   whole country."

   Mateen was a U.S. citizen, the son of Afghan parents. He was born in
   New York in 1986 and lived in Port St. Lucie, Florida, about a two-hour
   drive from the Orlando nightclub.

   Mateen's former wife told The Washington Post that she met him about
   eight years ago online and decided to move to Florida in the
   southeastern U.S.

   The woman, who spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity out
   of fear for her safety in the wake of the assault on the nightclub,
   said the marriage was normal at first but that Mateen then became
   abusive.

   "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."
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/orlando-shooter-what-is-known/3372839
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/orlando-shooter-what-is-known/3372839.html