Orlando shooting: Gun store owner warned FBI about Omar Mateen 6 weeks before massacre - TomoNews
- 8 years ago
ORLANDO, FLORIDA — A Florida gun store owner says he tried to alert federal authorities about a suspicious man — now said to be Orlando shooter Omar Mateen — after he tried to buy body armor and bulk ammunition, ABC News reported.
Between five and six weeks ago, Mateen entered Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach and began asking questions about high-end body armor and bulk ammunition, the store’s co-owner Robert Abell told ABC News. The employee explained to the man that they didn’t stock the body armor he was seeking, after which Mateen made a call in a foreign language and then asked about bulk ammunition.
Abell said that Mateen made the employee uncomfortable and that his questions were “odd.” Believing him to be “very suspicious”, Abell said they reported the incident to the FBI. However, they didn’t have Mateen’s identity because no sale was made and the surveillance footage was grainy, ABC News reported. Federal authorities followed up once, Abell said, but agents didn’t visit the store again.
Mateen was investigated twice by the FBI in 2013 and 2014 for suspected ties to extremists. In both instances, they determined he was not a threat.
Between five and six weeks ago, Mateen entered Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach and began asking questions about high-end body armor and bulk ammunition, the store’s co-owner Robert Abell told ABC News. The employee explained to the man that they didn’t stock the body armor he was seeking, after which Mateen made a call in a foreign language and then asked about bulk ammunition.
Abell said that Mateen made the employee uncomfortable and that his questions were “odd.” Believing him to be “very suspicious”, Abell said they reported the incident to the FBI. However, they didn’t have Mateen’s identity because no sale was made and the surveillance footage was grainy, ABC News reported. Federal authorities followed up once, Abell said, but agents didn’t visit the store again.
Mateen was investigated twice by the FBI in 2013 and 2014 for suspected ties to extremists. In both instances, they determined he was not a threat.