Omar Mateen was identified as the shooter of the Orlando nightclub mass shooting. (MySpace)
The co-owner of a Florida gun store said he tried to alert the FBI to a “very suspicious” man later identified as Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen.
Mateen killed 50 people and injured 53 others at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida on Sunday.
Robert Abell told ABC News, Mateen tried to buy body armor and bulk ammunition from his store, Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach, Florida.
Mateen entered the store five or six weeks ago, according to ABC News.
Here are five fast facts you need to know:
1. Abell Says He ‘Shut Him Down on All Sales’
Gun store owner: We alerted FBI to ‘suspicious’ customer weeks before Orlando shooting. t.co/Exg0JJtBeU
Abell told The Wall Street Journal that his gun store “shut him down on all sales” after Mateen began asking very specific questions about body armor.
“The questions he was asking were not the normal questions a normal person would be asking… He just seemed very odd,” Abell said.
He added that the armor Mateen asked about is not traditionally available to civilians.
2. Mateen Tried to Buy Bulk Ammunition
(Myspace)
After employees said the store didn’t carry the body armor Mateen wanted to purchase, Abell said, the man made a phone call in a foreign language. After Mateen hung up, he asked to buy ammunition in bulk.
Abell said a member of his staff thought the questions were suspicious and made him uncomfortable, so he turned the man away, and no sale was made.
Mateen is from an Afghan family, and his father is known to speak at least two Afghan languages, Dari and Pashto.
Mateen’s father, Mir Seddique, appears on several videos posted on a Youtube channel under his name. In one of the videos, Seddique denounces the Pakistani government and expresses gratitude towards the Afghan Taliban.
3. Abell Says He Called the Local FBI Office to Report the Incident
Omar Mateen in his driver’s license photo.
Abell told ABC that his store alerted local authorities because they thought the man was “very suspicious.”
Abell says he called the local FBI office in West Palm Beach and reported the incident. His store, however, didn’t have the man’s name, since no sale was made. The only surveillance footage they had was grainy, according to ABC News.
“We gave them information and everything that took place, and that was the end of the conversation,” he said.
Abell and his staff recognized Mateen after news reports about the nightclub massacre Sunday.
Public affairs officials for the FBI’s Miami field office, which oversees the West Palm Beach satellite office, and at headquarters in Washington, D.C., declined comment.
4. The FBI Had Been Alerted to Matteen’s Behavior in the Past
(MySpace)
The FBI had been alerted to Mateen as a potential terrorist for previous incidents. The FBI had investigated Mateen for violent remarks and suspicious behavior three times between 2013-2014, while he was employed as armed security personnel at the firm G4S.
He was placed on a watch list but then removed after the FBI determined did not find sufficient evidence to pursue charges. Mateen was never fired from his job at G4S.
USA Today reports that Mateen worked for the G4S security firm for nearly nine years. The company, which is based in the U.K., is the largest security firm in the world.
“Mateen underwent company screening and background checks when he was recruited in 2007 and the check revealed nothing of concern. His screening was repeated in 2013 with no findings,” said John Kenning, the company’s regional CEO for North America. However, Kenning did say that they were aware that the FBI was investigating Mateen in 2013.
“In 2013, we learned that Mateen had been questioned by the FBI but that the inquiries were subsequently closed. We were not made aware of any alleged connections between Mateen and terrorist activities, and were unaware of any further FBI investigations,” Kenning said.
5. Mateen Lawfully Bought His Weapons from Another Florida Gun Store
Guns traced in #Orlando shooting: .223 caliber AR type rifle and 9mm semiautomatic pistol. Similar to those pictured
Mateen purchased a .223 caliber AR-type rifle, which he used in the shooting. He also carried a 9mm semiautomatic pistol at the nightclub, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said.
Ed Henson, the owner of the store that sold Omar Mateen his weapons, told the media Monday that Mateen bought the guns within the last two weeks and days apart, reports NBC News. He passed the background checks before buying.
Mateen purchased the weapons from the St. Lucie Shooting Center in Port Saint Lucie.
