Mass Shooting Suspect On FBI Radar Since 2013
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ORLANDO (CBSMiami) -- An investigation that began early Sunday morning pushes well into the night at the Ft. Pierce condo where Orlando mass shooter Omar Mateen lived.
In a tweet, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said the weapons Mateen used in the attack were purchased legally.
Guns traced in #Orlando shooting: .223 caliber AR type rifle and 9mm semiautomatic pistol. Similar to those pictured pic.twitter.com/Ao5pcLtwBg
— ATF HQ (@ATFHQ) June 12, 2016
At the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, those who know Mateen said they're shocked and saddened that one of their own could commit such an evil act.
"There is nothing he heard from me to do killing, to do bloodshed, to do anything because we never talk like that," said Imam Syed Shafeeq Rahman. "We always stand for peace and justice."
Rahman said Mateen had been coming to the mosque since he was young and would go three to four times a week with his young son.
"As an adult he would not talk to anyone. He would come and pray and leave," said Rahman. "We don't know anything that he was connected to anybody."
As FBI agents look to learn more about what led Mateen to commit such a heinous act, a former classmate, who wished to remain anonymous recalled his time spent with Mateen.
"There were several instances where he was a little bit of a loose cannon. He was a little bit of a troublesome on and around women."
The classmate said Mateen was considered a bully and had disciplinary issues from when he knew him in elementary and junior high school.
The last time he saw Mateen, which was a few years ago, Mateen was fixated on going into law enforcement.
"He told me he was trying to get into law enforcement, that he had some interviews and some applications sent out to the city of Ft. Pierce Police Department and the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Department."
According to a Washington Post article, Mateen's ex-wife said he was violent and mentally unstable -- and beat her repeatedly while they were married.
During a news conference, the FBI said Mateen had a couple of run-ins with the agency.
"The FBI first became aware of Marteen in 2013 when he made inflammatory comments to co-workers alleging possible terrorist ties," said Special Agent Ron Hopper.
However, the FBI was unable to verify the substance of his comments and the investigation was closed.
A year later, Mateen came to the attention of the FBI once again because of possible ties to Moner Mohammad Abusalha -- an American suicide bomber.
His former classmate said, despite his violent behavior at a young age, what Mateen is accused of shocks him.
"I'd never seen any direct signs tied to his Muslim heritage or that he was connected to any form of ISIS, or had a problem with the homosexual community or anything of that nature."
