Report: Gun store warned FBI about shooter's behavior. Orlando gunman tried to buy Level 3 body armor from gun store https://t.co/f7qbcjxG7S— GlobalAwareness101 (@Mononoke__Hime) June 17, 2016
CBS News
written by Staff
Friday June 17, 2016
Friday June 17, 2016
JENSEN BEACH, Fla. -- The co-owner of a Florida gun store says his employees contacted law enforcement before the Orlando shooting after gunman Omar Mateen attempted to purchase body armor and ammunition.
Robbie Abell, co-owner of Lotus Gunworks, said Thursday his workers had a gut feeling about Mateen when he came to the store four or five weeks ago.
Mateen asked for level 3 body armor, according to Abell, but was told the store didn't carry it. He then made a phone call and spoke in Arabic before asking for bulk ammunition, but employees did not sell it to him.
Abell told reporters "we contacted FBI direct" after Mateen left the store but he did not elaborate on how investigators responded. He believed his employees did what they should have done, Abell said.
On Friday, the FBI released a statement confirming that the gun store told them in May, during an unrelated investigation, that Mateen tried to buy body armor.
However, the store did not have his name, date of birth, telephone number or other information. The shop notified the FBI after the shooting to say that the unknown man who had visited them resembled the nightclub shooter.
"Unfortunately, given the lack information about this individual, FBI agents were unable to conduct any meaningful investigative follow up." the FBI said.
Investigators say Mateen opened fire early Sunday morning at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 people and wounding 53 others before he was killed in a shootout with police. It was the deadliest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.
The FBI is investigating the shooting as both a hate crime, since it took place at a gay nightclub, and as a terror attack.
A source familiar with the investigation told CBS News on Wednesday that Mateen referenced the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in a Facebook message posted moments before the shooting.
"You kill innocent women and children by doing us airstrikes..now taste the Islamic state vengeance [sic]," Mateen wrote, according to the source.
"In the next few days you will see attacks from the Islamic State [ISIS] in the usa," the post said.
RT @timesofindia IS claims responsibility of Orlando attack; Shooter was known to FBIhttps://t.co/fnY2QktNoq— GlobalAwareness101 (@Mononoke__Hime) June 12, 2016
Time of India
written by news agencies
Monday June 13, 2016
WASHINGTON: Islamic State claimed responsibility on Sunday for the worst mass shooting in US history, but US officials said they had seen no immediate evidence linking the militant group to the massacre in Orlando, Florida.
Islamic State's claim was carried by Amaq, the organization's news agency.
"The armed attack that targeted a gay night club in the city of Orlando in the American state of Florida which left over 100 people dead or injured was carried out by an Islamic State fighter," said the Amaq statement.
At least 50 people were killed and 53 others were wounded in the Pulse nightclub before the gunman was shot dead by police.
The shooter was identified by authorities as Omar Mateen, a Florida resident and US-born son of Afghan immigrants who a senior FBI official said might have had leanings toward Islamic State.
The FBI official cautioned, however, that proving the suspected link to radical Islamism required further investigation.
Mateen had previously been investigated for ties to an American suicide bomber, the FBI said Sunday.
Special Agent Ronald Hopper said he had been cleared by the probe, but was believed to have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State before the massacre.
According to the agent, Mateen twice came to the attention of investigators in 2013 and 2014 over alleged links to Islamist extremists.
"The FBI first became aware of Mateen in 2013 when he made inflammatory comments to co-workers alleging possible terrorist ties," he told reporters.
"The FBI thoroughly investigated the matter including interviews with witnesses, physical surveillance and records checks.
"In the course of the investigation Mateen was interviewed twice. Ultimately we were unable to verify the substance of his comments and the investigation was closed."
Later, he was interviewed by agents investigating his contacts with Moner Mohammad Abusalha, a fellow Floridian and the first US citizen to carry out a suicide bombing in Syria.
"We determined the contact was minimal and did not constitute a substantive relationship or a threat at that time," Hopper told reporters.
Asked how Mateen had been able to hold a Florida gun license and to legally purchase two guns shortly before the attack, Hopper said simply that the investigation into his supposed radical ties had been "inconclusive."
"It has been reported that Mateen made calls to 911 this morning in which he stated his allegiance to the Islamic State," he said.
"We're looking into any and all connections both domestic and international."
Speaking at the White House, President Barack Obama called the attack "an act of terror and an act of hate," and said the FBI would spare no effort to determine whether the suspect had been inspired by any extremist group.
The two officials familiar with the investigation said a leading theory was that the suspect somehow was inspired by Islamist militants.
One official said early information, the nature of which he did not disclose, indicated that the shooter was motivated by a mixture of "hate" and religion.
huh? What the heck? People don't murder others because they love them? And Islamist ONLY TERROIZE and MURDER on a daily basis worldwide precisely because of their religion, ahem cult. (emphasis mine)
US Representative Adam Schiff of California, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement issued after a briefing on the massacre that several factors indicated the attack was an Islamic State-inspired "act of terrorism."
He noted that the incident occurred during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, that Islamic State had called for attacks during that period, the target was an LGBT nightclub and it was hit during Gay Pride weekend.
Schiff said that, if accurate, "according to local law enforcement the shooter declared his allegiance to ISIS (Islamic State)."
An audio message purportedly issued last month by the spokesman of Islamic State called on followers to launch attacks in the United States and Europe during Ramadan, which began on June 5 in the United States.
"Ramadan, the month of conquest and jihad. Get prepared, be ready ... to make it a month of calamity everywhere for the non-believers ... especially for the fighters and supporters of the caliphate in Europe and America," said the statement allegedly made by Abu Muhammad al-Adnani and distributed over Twitter accounts usually associated with Islamic State.
"The smallest action you do in their heartland is better and more enduring to us than what you would if you were with us. If one of you hoped to reach the Islamic State, we wish we were in your place to punish the Crusaders day and night," said the audio clip, the authenticity of which could not be verified.
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