Omar Mateen, the shooter at Pulse – the Orlando nightclub in Florida he shot up – was identified as being a regular there by at least four other regular customers, reported The Washington Post.
The attack, which left 50 people dead, was allegedly motivated by homophobia. Now, Kevin West – who was at the club that night – said he encountered Mateen on Jack’d, a dating website for men.
West had met Mateen over a year ago and only lost touch with him as recently as March. West also said he had seen the shooter at the club multiple times. However, the Los Angeles Times reported that West had only been contacted by Mateen on the dating website, but they never met.
Ty Smith was another club regular who saw Mateen there several times, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
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.Ty Smith
Another Pulse regular, Cord Cedeno, said he had seen Mateen there many times and his profile picture was easily recognisable on his dating profile. He said he had been contacted by Omar sometime last year over the website.
It was definitely him. He’d come in for years, and people knew him.Cord Cedeno
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)