What we know about suspected Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen
Officials have identified the suspected gunman in the Orlando gay nightclub mass shooting that left at least 50 dead and more than 50 others wounded as Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old from Port Saint Lucie, Florida.
Mateen's parents are from Afghanistan, and according to ABC News he was "on the radar" of U.S. officials but was never under specific investigation. Law enforcement sources told NBC News that Mateen called 911 moments before and pledged allegiance to the leader of ISIS.
Mir Seddique, Mateen's father, told NBC News, "this has nothing to do with religion," claiming his son was angered after seeing two men kissing in Miami recently.
See more of the suspected shooter:
St. Lucie Sheriff Deputy William Minogue, 31, told AOL.com that Mateen "tried to get hired with Fort Pierce Police Department," before accepting a job as a security guard.
According to Minogue, who also attended Mariposa Elementary school with the gunman, Mateen "worked at St. Lucie county courthouse screening people for weapons."
An Orlando woman, who requested anonymity, remembers attending middle school with Mateen and tells AOL.com that he was a "trouble maker in school," and alleges Mateen once "punched a teacher and was supposed to be expelled but wasn't."
Authorities are reportedly investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings has stated the incident "could definitely be classified as domestic terrorism."
FBI assistant agent in charge Ron Hopper said this morning "we do have suggestions that that individual may have leanings towards that, that particular ideology [Islamic extremism]. But right now we can't say definitively, so we're still running everything around."
Mateen was killed in a gunfight with those officers early this morning, officials said.
Images from the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting:
