The man who carried out Sunday’s deadly shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., reportedly scouted Walt Disney World during a search for a target.
Omar Mateen opened fire at Pulse, a gay nightclub in downtown Orlando, around Sunday at 2 a.m. During the attack, he declared his allegiance to the Islamic State while on a 911 call, according to law-enforcement officials, before he was shot and killed around 5 a.m. by police.
He killed 49 people and injured 53 others.
A federal law enforcement source told People.com that Mateen and his wife, Noor Zahi Salman, had visited Walt Disney World in Orlando in April. She told federal authorities that Mateen since then had been “scouting Downtown Disney and Pulse for attacks.”
Four Disney World theme parks — Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Epcot — have metal detectors outside, as well as random screenings. However, Downtown Disney, recently renamed Disney Springs, doesn’t have security and bag check before entry.
Before Sunday’s shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, Mateen was investigated by the FBI in 2013 and 2014. However, the investigations were ultimately closed. He also visited Saudi Arabia in 2011 and 2012 on a religious pilgrimage, according to Saudi media.
President Obama said Monday that there is no evidence Mateen as part of a larger plot or directed by the Islamic State.
