Orlando shooter Omar Mateen was a regular at Pulse nightclub before attack
- 8 years ago
ORLANDO, FLORIDA — At least four regulars at the Orlando nightclub where a gunman killed 49 people said on Monday that they had seen the killer, Omar Mateen, there before.
In an Orlando Sentinel report, Ty Smith said, “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.”
Smith told the paper that he had seen Mateen inside Pulse nightclub at least a dozen times.
“We didn’t really talk to him a lot, but I remember him saying things about his dad at times,” Smith said. “He told us he had a wife and child.”
Kevin West, another Pulse regular, told the Los Angeles Times that Mateen messaged him on and off for a year using a gay chat app.
Mateen’s ex-wife Sitora Yusufiy told reporters on Sunday that Mateen wanted to be a police officer. He worked as a correctional officer at a juvenile delinquent center and had applied to the police academy, she said.
Mateen eventually found a stable job as a security guard in South Florida.
Mateen applied for a state security guard license, the type that lets the holder to carry a firearm, and he got one, said State Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in an Orlando Sentinel report.
In an Orlando Sentinel report, Ty Smith said, “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.”
Smith told the paper that he had seen Mateen inside Pulse nightclub at least a dozen times.
“We didn’t really talk to him a lot, but I remember him saying things about his dad at times,” Smith said. “He told us he had a wife and child.”
Kevin West, another Pulse regular, told the Los Angeles Times that Mateen messaged him on and off for a year using a gay chat app.
Mateen’s ex-wife Sitora Yusufiy told reporters on Sunday that Mateen wanted to be a police officer. He worked as a correctional officer at a juvenile delinquent center and had applied to the police academy, she said.
Mateen eventually found a stable job as a security guard in South Florida.
Mateen applied for a state security guard license, the type that lets the holder to carry a firearm, and he got one, said State Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in an Orlando Sentinel report.