The father of Omar Mateen, the suspect who shot and killed more than 50 people at Orlando’s gay nightclub Pulse, said that his son didn’t like it when he saw two men kissing recently in Miami.
FULL COVERAGE: Mass Shooting at Gay Orlando Nightclub Leaves at Least 50 Dead, 53 Injured
Mir Seddique, Mateen’s father told NBC News, “this has nothing to do with religion.” Seddique said his son got angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago and thinks that may be related to the shooting.
“We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident. We weren’t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country,” Seddique said.
Meanwhile, a man who answered the phone at Mateen’s address, Mustafa Abasin, told NBC News: “We are in shock and we are said.” He would not say how he knew Mateen, but said he was helping investigators.
TMZ reports that Mateen “held a Florida security officer license and a state firearms license.”
The FBI had investigated Mateen two times prior, The Daily Beast reports:
The senior law enforcement source reports that Mateen became a person of interest in 2013 and again in 2014. The Federal Bureau of Investigation at one point opened an investigation on Mateen but subsequently closed the case when it produced nothing that appeared to warrant further investigation.
“He’s a known quantity,” the source said. “He’s been on the radar before.”
The gunman is said by the source to have been born in New York and to have been married for a time to a woman from New Jersey. His father, Seddique Mateen, appears to reside in Florida, but is said to be presently running for office in Afghanistan.
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