The FBI declined to comment to The Huffington Post about Noor Mateen.
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Mateen’s name was listed on an unclassified federal database for almost a year between 2013 and 2014 after he allegedly told co-workers of sympathies he had with militants overseas, three federal officials familiar with the investigation told Reuters.
It is the deadliest mass shooting in modern United States history.
At a news conference at Orlando Regional Medical Center, shooting survivor Patience Carter described praying to die as she lay on a nightclub bathroom floor covered in water and blood.
“I look over and he shoots the girl next to me and I was just there laying down and thinking, ‘I’m next, I’m dead”, Colon said.
Obama is to visit Orlando on Thursday to pay respects to families of the victims.
Yusufiy also told the New York Times that she thought he was gay but kept it a secret because he was deeply ashamed.
The elder Mateen said he learned of the speculation from news reports, but as far as he was concerned, “I didn’t see any of it and I don’t believe that was the case”.
In calls to authorities on Sunday, Mateen also mentioned support for the Boston Marathon bombers and a Florida man who became a Nusra Front suicide bomber in Syria, Comey said.
Asked about reports that Mateen may have been in the club before, his father, Seddique Mateen, said from his home in Port St Lucie, Florida, that his son may have been “scouting the place”.
The report said he visited with his wife. Cunningham said reporters said they saw people inside the apartment.
Investigators have talked with Mateen’s ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, who said he had beat her. The FBI still had his phone as of late Monday. “We’re highly confident this killer was radicalized at least in some part through the internet”.
Vigils have meanwhile been held in Orlando and around the world for the victims of the attacks.
Many said they felt compelled to attend because of the role Pulse played in their lives.
“That’s not his first time there”, Cedeno said.
“I made peace with God”.
Omar Mateen, 29, opened fire near the entrance of Pulse at about 2 a.m. Sunday, near closing time. When gunfijre erupted, “I felt like I was over in Iraq”, he said.
Salman said Mateen shared his plans with her to carry out an attack and Mateen may have even called her from the gay club Pulse during the slaughter, the source said.
One customer said Mateen threatened his friend with a knife.
The FBI chief defended the bureau’s handling of Mateen during two previous investigations into his apparent terrorist sympathies.
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Authorities closed their probe after concluding that Mateen did not have ties with terror groups.
