More grisly details are emerging about the man responsible for killing at least 49 people at Pulse nightclub in Orlando in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Reportedly, Omar Mateen had visited the gay-friendly nightclub somewhat frequently in the time preceding the shooting. The Canadian Press spoke with two regular attendees of Pulse who were there when the violence broke out.
A drag-dancing married couple described seeing Mateen as many as a dozen times at the gay-friendly nightclub where he’d later embark on the single worst gun massacre in modern American history.
Ty Smith and Chris Callen recalled the eventual killer being escorted drunk from the Pulse bar on multiple occasions, including one incident where he pointed a knife at a friend.
Both professed shock at seeing his face on TV: “It’s the same guy,” said Callen, who performs under the name Kristina McLaughlin. “He’s been going to this bar for at least three years.”
Smith said the sometimes-visitor would show up with a buddy and let loose in a way he couldn’t when he was closer to the family home in Port St. Lucie: “(He’d get) really, really drunk… He couldn’t drink when he was at home — around his wife, or family. His father was really strict… He used to bitch about it.”
The couple became weary of Mateen following an incident where he reportedly exhibited his violent tendencies.
In separate interviews, both Callen and Smith described one incident that unnerved them.
They said they decided to keep their distance from Mateen after he exploded in anger at a joke told by one of their friends, possibly about religion: “He ended up pulling a knife,” Callen said.
“He said if he ever messed with him again, you know how it’ll turn out.”
Several other frequent clubgoers also stated they had crossed paths with Mateen at Pulse multiple times, however, Orlando Police Chief John Mina is yet to confirm that information as part of the investigation.
Further, another regular at Pulse told the Los Angeles Times that he actually exchanged messages with the shooter over the span of a year using the gay chat app, Jack’d.
Kevin West, a regular at Pulse nightclub, said Omar Mateen messaged him on and off for a year before the shooting using the gay chat and dating app Jack’d.
But they never met – until early Sunday morning.
West was dropping off a friend at the club when he noticed Mateen – whom he knew by sight but not by name – crossing the street wearing a dark cap and carrying a black cellphone about 1 a.m., an hour before the shooting.
“He walked directly past me. I said, ‘Hey,’ and he turned and said, ‘Hey,’” and nodded his head, West said. “I could tell by the eyes.”
As soon as West saw photos released of Mateen after the shooting, he said, he drove to his local police station, where officers summoned FBI officials, who showed him a photo of Mateen on a computer screen.
“I said, ‘That’s him,’” West said, and turned over his phone and Jack’d log-in information to the FBI, which still had the phone late Monday, he said.
At this time, it remains unclear what Mateen’s motives were in visiting the club and using the gay messaging app, although simple speculation would tell you they were not of good intention.