Orlando shooter homophobe and wife beater

People close to 29-year-old Omar Mateen, the suspected gunman behind the attack on a gay nightclub in Florida that left 50 dead, paint a picture of a violent and prejudiced young man.

A Muslim American of Afghan descent, US law enforcement agencies are investigating whether Mateen had ties to or was inspired by Islamist extremism, after a source linked to the Islamic State group claimed the attack.

The FBI said he apparently made a 911 call just before the massacre to claim allegiance to the ISIS.

Sunday’s attack, the worst mass shooting in modern US history, was carried out at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, a well-known gay hangout.

But relatives interviewed by US media said Mateen, who worked as a security officer, was married and had a young son, was not especially religious. They did, however, describe a man who had anti-gay views, mental health problems and was physically abusive to his ex-wife.

Mateen’s father, Mir Seddique, said his son had recently been offended to see two gay men expressing affection on a Miami street. “We were in downtown Miami, Bayside, people were playing music. And he saw two men kissing in front of his wife and kid and he got very angry,” Seddique said.

Mateen’s ex-wife said he was violent and mentally unstable — but not an extremist. “A few months after we were married he started abusing me physically... not allowing me to speak to my family, keeping me hostage from them,” she said. She noted that Mateen was “mentally unstable and mentally ill” and had a history of steroid use. When they split, “my family literally rescued me... they had to pull me out of his arms and find an emergency flight.”

The pair were divorced in 2011, and Yusufiy said she has not had contact with Mateen in years.

The imam of the mosque where Mateen worshipped said he came to evening prayers three or four times a week, bringing his son who is about four or five years old.

“He would pray and his son would play,” said Syed Shafeeq Rahman of the Islamic Center.

Mateen owned a small caliber handgun and worked as a guard at a secure facility for juvenile delinquents. Authorities said he bought a handgun and a long gun two days before the attack.

The FBI interviewed Mateen twice for having suspected ties to Islamist militants. The first investigation took place in 2013 when Mateen made inflammatory comments to co-workers that indicated sympathy for militants.

In 2014, Mateen was investigated and interviewed again, this time for suspected connections to Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, an American citizen who became a suicide bomber in Syria in 2014. It was concluded that Mateen’s contact with Abu-Salha was minimal and “he did not constitute a substantive threat at that time.”