Was ISIS gunman planning attack on Disney World? Killer ‘scouted several sites before storming gay nightclub’
THE crazed gunman behind the Orlando nightclub shootings was reportedly scouting Disney World as a potential target.
Omar Seddique Mateen is also said to have visited the Pulse club "a dozen times" and used a gay dating app before he slayed 49 people and injured 53 in the worst terror attack America has seen since 9/11.
Mateen is understood to have visited the kids resort in Orlando in April.
His wife Noor Zahi Salman is said to have told the US authorities on Sunday that her husband had recently been "scouting Downtown Disney and Pulse [nightclub] for attacks."
Regulars at the Pulse nightclub said he had been known to fly into a rage, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Ty Smith, who also goes by the name Aries, told the paper: “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.
“We didn’t really talk to him a lot, but I remember him saying things about his dad at times.
"He told us he had a wife and child.”
Mateen is also said to have messaged a man and his pal on a gay dating app, according to US journalist Christopher Hayes.
Brave cops have revealed how they blasted their way into a Florida nightclub in a bid to end an ISIS fanatic's gun rampage.
ISIS maniac Mateen, 29, fired indiscriminately inside gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida after shooting the doorman dead early Sunday morning.
More than 300 people were inside the nightclub when the sound of gunfire was first heard just after 2am local time.
Orlando Police Chief John Mina said the gunman twice prevented officers from ending his killing spree before hiding in the toilets with hostages.
A stand-off lasting around three hours followed, with another group of 15-20 people hiding in another nearby bathroom.
The ISIS killer warned cops he had a bomb on him and would kill victims "imminently" when an expert negotiator tried to convince the gunman to give himself up.
The killer is thought to have been armed with the same gun used by the Sandy Hook school shooter.
Police used explosives and a BearCat armoured vehicle to smash a hole in the wall, allowing some trapped clubbers to escape.
The man I spoke with today also said the shooter has messaged him on a gay dating app. His friend as well. We'll run the interview tonight.
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes)
Mateen emerged from the hole shooting moments later and was shot dead by a team of "eight or nine" officers.
The shooting is the deadliest in American history and the worst terror attack in the USA since 9/11.
The AR-15 semi-automatic rifle has left dozens dead in multiple shootings this decade, calls for a nationwide ban have been ignored.
Fanatic Mateen called 911 to pledge allegiance to ISIS after opening fire at revellers, in an atrocity mirroring last November’s massacre at Paris’ Bataclan Theatre.
ISIS terrorists last night claimed responsibility for the horror, weeks after spokesman Abu Mohammed al Adnani called for "a month of hurt" in Europe and the USA.
They described the killer as "a soldier of the caliphate in America" in a sickening audio message.
A spokesman for the group said: "One of the Caliphate's soldiers in America carried out a security invasion where he was able to enter a crusader gathering at a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando, Florida ... where he killed and injured more than a hundred of them before he was killed."
Attacker Omar Mateen, 29, was killed by police after a stand-off in the club.
President Obama called the tragedy "an act of terror and an act of hate".
Chief Mina told how an undercover police officer working at Pulse nightclub had a gun battle with the terrorist when he first opened fire at around 2am.
A second gun battle caused Mateen to flee into the bathroom with hostages, but allowed "dozens and dozens" of terrified clubbers to escape.
Attack comes after ISIS called for 'month of hurt' during Ramadan
An audio recording released by ISIS spokseman Abu Mohammed al Adnani called on supporters to launch attacks in the USA and Europe.
Ramadan, the Islamic Holy Month, started last week and marks a month of fasting for Muslims.
Al-Adnani called on fanatics to "terrorise [people] so the neighbour fears his neighbour", in the group's most strident call for attacks yet.
He said: "The smallest action you do in the heart of their land is dearer to us than the largest action by us, and more effective and more damaging to them.
"And if one of you wishes and tries hard to reach the Islamic State, then one of us wishes to be in your place to hurt the Crusaders day and night without sleeping, and terrorise them so that the neighbour fears his neighbour."
It was the latest in a string of calls for attacks by al-Adnani, who Western intelligence believe oversees the group's external attack plotting.
He is thought to have had command responsibility for the sickening Paris attacks in November, which left 131 dead.
Chief Mina explained negotiations were not working, saying: "He wasn't really asking for much. We were doing most of the talking.
"Based on statements made by the suspect and from information received from the suspect and hostages, we believed further loss of life was imminent, so I made the decision to commence the rescue operation and do the explosive breach.
"The explosive breach did not penetrate the wall completely. We used a BearCat armoured vehicle to punch a hole in that wall so there was a hole in that wall about 2ft off the ground and two-and-a-half/3ft wide and we were able to rescue dozens and dozens of people that came out of that hole.
"The suspect came out of that hole himself armed with a handgun and a long gun, engaged in a gun battle with officers, in which he was ultimately killed."
US sources said security services were quizzing relatives of 29-year-old Muslim Mateen in London.
Mateen slaughtered 49 people with another 53 victims in hospital, some fighting for life.
The rampage was the worst terror attack in the US since 9/11 and the deadliest mass shooting in its history.
Mateen, wielding an AR-15 assault rifle and a handgun, struck in Orlando, Florida, at 2am.
He laughed and shouted as he sprayed the dance floor with bullets. Mobile phone footage from the scene recorded 24 shots in nine seconds.
Video footage showing clubbers dancing hours before the horror attack has also emerged.
Revellers are seen holding hands and enjoying the party before terror struck.
Some of the 350 clubbers escaped but up to 100 were held hostage until Mateen was shot dead by a SWAT team.
Paul Wysopal, the FBI's special agent in charge, said they had processed 100 leads so far.
US Attorney Lee Bentley said authorities had collected a "great amount" of both electronic and physical evidence as part of the criminal investigation.
He said: "We do not know yet whether anyone else will be charged in connection with this crime, but we have no reason to believe that anyone connected to this crime is placing
the public in imminent danger at this time.
"But there is an investigation of other persons... if anyone else was involved in this crime they will be prosecuted."
Clubber Eddie Justice had fled to the toilets. Fearing for his life, he first wrote: “Mommy I love you. In club they shooting.”
He quickly added: “He’s coming. I’m gonna die.”
Chillingly, his final text said: “He has us and he’s in here with us.”
Mum-of-three Mina took screenshots of the exchange to the gay club, hoping she might be able to find Eddie.
He has since been confirmed dead by Orlando city council.
Eddie's mum said they had spoken on the phone before her son was shot, she said: “I could hear a lot of people crying. He said, ‘He has us and he’s fixing to kill us’. That was it.”
A survivor told of his guilty after he and others blocked an exit to the club as they escaped to an alleyway at the side of the building.
Luis Burbano told ABC News: "We went to an alleyway, which was only for employees. Me and this random guy tried blocking the door because the shots were getting louder and closer.
"We blocked this door and we did hear banging and I pray it wasn't anyone trying to escape because I would feel guilty forever, but at that point there was about 20 people crammed in this alleyway just trying to escape."
Mateen had driven a van 118 miles from his home in Port St Lucie.
He phoned 911, pledging allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi and referring to the 2013 Boston bombing.
He then shot at the armed doorman and stormed inside Pulse just before closing time.
At 3am the club posted on Facebook: “Everyone get out of pulse and keep running.”
Two hours later a nine-strong SWAT team was sent in, triggering two explosions to distract him.
At 6am police confirmed New York-born Mateen, who had a son aged three with his Uzbekistani wife, was dead.
It emerged he worked as a security guard and held a gun licence — and that a second extremist had been arrested at a gay pride event in Los Angeles, in a car packed with explosives and guns.
Killer's dad is 'Taliban sympathiser who made bizarre videos ranting against US'
THE dad of Orlando nightclub killer Omar Mateen has been revealed as a Taliban sympathiser who made a TV show ranting about the USA.
Seddique Mateen, 59, has bizarrely declared himself the president of Afghanistan and makes proclamations via videos on Facebook.
The Afghan-national has said he “runs” the war-torn country from his Florida home and once declared the Taliban his “war brothers”.
Other episodes of his “Durand Jirga Show” are littered with “anti-US tirades”, according to AP.
Just hours before his son opened fire, the dad posted a rant calling for the arrest of leaders in his homeland.
Dressed in military fatigues, the self-styled politician barks: “I order the national army, national police and intelligence department to immediately imprison Karzai, Ashraf Ghani, Zalmay Khalilzad, Atmar, and Sayyaf.
“They are against our countrymen and against our homeland.”
It comes after the extremist's dad apologised for the attack, but claimed it had "nothing to do with religion".
He suggested his son had become angry after seeing two gay men kissing in downtown Miami in front of his wife and son.
The dad reportedly told NBC News: "We are saying we are apologising for the whole incident.
"We weren't aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country."
His dad later uploaded a Facebook apology "asking God for forgiveness".
Former co-worker Daniel Gilroy told Mateen was "racist, belligerent and toxic".
He said: "He was scary in a concerning way, and it wasn't at times. It was all the time.
"He had anger management issues. Something would set him off, but the things that would set him off were always women, race or religion.
"[Those were] his button pushers."
The carnage at Pulse mirrored the massacre at the Bataclan Theatre, where terrorists killed 89 music fans during November’s Paris attacks which left 130 dead.
Congressman Adam Schiff, on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, was briefed by security officials.
He said Mateen was heard praying in a foreign language.
He added: “This attack is so painfully reminiscent of the terrible attack at the Bataclan and other IS-inspired attacks.”
Pulse survivor Christopher Hansen said: “It was like a horror movie.
“I heard the ‘boom boom’ of bullets, thinking it was part of a song. I looked behind me and I noticed it wasn’t the song — that there were bodies falling down.
“The guy next to me was shot and that’s when I dropped. I had to crawl my way out. By the time I felt air on my elbows I knew I was OK. You could still hear the bullets going off inside the club.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
THIS is how the events in the nightclub horror unfolded, all timings local:
Before 2am: Omar Mateen leaves his home in Port St Lucie, Florida, drives 120 miles to Orlando and parks his van outside Pulse, a gay nightclub.
2.02am: Mateen enters the packed club armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and a handgun and opens fire into the crowd of around 320.
An off-duty officer working security at the club exchanges fire with him.
Witnesses report hearing dozens of shots and the music stopping.
Dancers drop to the floor, some manage to crawl to an exit before running for their lives.
Others are taken hostage when the gunman barricades himself inside.
Between 2am and 3am: Clubber Eddie Justice, 30, trapped in the toilet sends desperate texts to his mum, Mina, begging her to call the police.
He texts: “Mommy I love you. In club they shooting . . . Trapp in bathroom . . . Call police. He’s coming . . . I’m gonna die.”
3am: The club posts on Facebook: “Everyone get out of pulse and keep running.”
5am: A police SWAT team goes in to rescue the hostages, detonating two explosions to try to distract the gunman.
Nine officers enter the club and exchange fire with the shooter in an hour-long standoff.
One officer was saved by his Kevlar helmet when a bullet hit him in the head.
6am: Police confirm Mateen has been killed in the gunfight.
“People were running and screaming. There were bodies in the parking lot. It was absolutely tragic.”
Carlos Rosario said: “There was a man about 24 and he had a hole in his back.
“Another man and I packed his wound to stop the bleeding and we kept him conscious by asking him about his family and what he was going to do in the future. I hope we kept him alive.”
Jon Alamo said he was at the back of one of the club’s rooms when the gunman came in. He said: “I heard 20, 40, 50 shots. The music stopped.”
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One man knocked down a partition in a private section of the club to help more flee.
Jeanette McCoy, 37, told how her pal saved her life when the gunman walked towards her on the dance floor.
She said: “People were desperate to get out, trampling each other.
“People were getting shot and dying right next to me. He (her friend) was behind me. He took the bullet for me, he’s in surgery.”
Mayor Buddy Dwyer, who visited the scene, said: “We are dealing with something that we never imagine and is unimaginable. There is blood everywhere.
“Because of the scale of the crime, I have asked the Florida governor to declare a state of emergency.”
Victims’ friends and relatives gathered at Orlando Regional Medical Center, which is a quarter of a mile from the nightclub.
The OMRC admitted 44 shooting victims — of whom nine died.
Chief surgical quality officer Dr Michael Cheatham said staff had operated on 26 people and added: “Many of the gunshot wounds were fairly severe.”
Blood donors answering an emergency plea queued to donate to hospitals.
They included British nursing agency boss Kelly-Anne Byres, on holiday with husband Andy and son Logan, three.
The Queen expressed shock at the killings, adding: “Our thoughts are with all those affected.”
And US President Barack Obama branded the attack “an act of terror and an act of hate”.
He said: “We grieve the murder and horrific massacre of dozens of innocent people.”
Senator Dick Durbin, of Illinois, called for Congress to pass a new gun control law or be “complicit in the next killing”.
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