Omar Mateen's ex-wife identified him to the Washington Post as the man in this image from MySpace. MySpace
Sources say he swore allegiance to the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in a phone call to 911 moments before the rampage at the Pulse Nightclub.
Investigators are trying to determine whether religious extremism motivated the attack and piece together what exactly set off Mateen, who lived less than two hours south of Orlando in Port St. Lucie and worked as a security guard.
Mateen didn't appear to have any direct ties with ISIS, sources told NBCNews, although he was a follower of ISIS propaganda and referenced the Tsarnaev brothers, who carried out the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, at the scene of the shooting.
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Gunman Opens Fire at Orlando Nightclub But while law enforcement delves into what may have radicalized Mateen, who was born in New York and lived in Florida for at least the past decade, his family believes he was fueled by pure hate against the LGBT community.
Because of his name and heritage, there were immediate questions about Mateen's possible ties to Islamic fundamentalism. But his father told NBC News that his son was affected by a recent incident involving two men showing each other affection.
"We were in Downtown Miami, Bayside, people were playing music. And he saw two men kissing each other in front of his wife and kid and he got very angry," Mateen's father, Mir Seddique, told NBC News on Sunday. "They were kissing each other and touching each other and he said, 'Look at that. In front of my son they are doing that.' And then we were in the men's bathroom and men were kissing each other."
"We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident," Seddique said. "We weren't aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country."
Seddique added: "This had nothing to do with religion."
Driving the point home that religion was a consideration in the mind of investigators, at a 10:30 a.m. news conference Saturday, officials brought a member of the Muslim community to speak.
Police did not explicitly say Mateen was Muslim, but Islamic groups put out statements denouncing the carnage.
"We condemn this monstrous attack and offer our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of all those killed or injured. The Muslim community joins our fellow Americans in repudiating anyone or any group that would claim to justify or excuse such an appalling act of violence," the Council on American-Islamic Relations Orlando Regional Coordinator Rasha Mubarak said in a statement.
Seddique said Mateen was a husband and father to a 3-year-old son. He worked in security and had attended Indian River State College, where he got an associate's degree in criminal justice, his father added.
His job in security gave him access to his weapons; police say he used a handgun and AR-15-type rifle in the shooting spree.
ATF officials tweeted Sunday that he legally purchased the firearms within the last week.
Records also show he had filed a petition for a name change in 2006 from Omar Mir Seddique to Omar Mir Seddique Mateen.
An ex-wife of Mateen told The Washington Post that he was prone to violent behavior and beat her. They had met online eight years ago and she moved to Florida to be with him.
"He was not a stable person," the unidentified ex-wife said. "He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn't finished or something like that."
She said his family was originally from Afghanistan and pictures posted online on Myspace were of Mateen wearing shirts with the NYPD logo.
The marriage lasted only months, but during that time she never noticed him becoming radicalized. Still, she lived in fear. Her parents came to take her away and the couple officially divorced in 2011.
"He was a very private person," the ex-wife said.
Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., whose district includes the area of the massacre, suggested to reporters that "more likely than not" the shooting spree at the nightclub was ideologically motivated.
"Let me put it this way," he said, "the nationality of family members is indicative."
A family friend told NBC News that Mateen's parents have always been "very respectful" of America, and the idea that someone in the family would unleash terror is surpising.
"They are a beautiful close-knit-loving family and they have no hate for anyone and they are upset as anyone about what happened and feel for the victims," said Desiree Mufson.
"Their son went awry," she added.
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