Around 2am on Sunday, 29 year old Omar Mateen of Port Saint Lucie, FL entered a gay club called Pulse in Orlando, killing 50 people and injuring 53. This comes right after singer Christina Grimmie was gunned down Friday night in the same city.
One of the victims named Eddie Justice hid inside of a bathroom and texted his mom, Mina Justice. Eddie told his mother that a gunman had entered the club and was headed towards the bathroom he was hiding in. Eddie told his mom he was scared and thought hwas going to die when Mateen entered the bathroom. Those were the last texts Mina got from her son before he was killed by Mateen:
Mateen, an Afgan-American, pledged allegiance to ISIS and has been twice interviewed by the FBI. In 2013 and 2014, Mateen became a person of interest for the FBI after making “inflammatory comments” towards coworkers and for being linked to a Syrian suicide bomber. However, the FBI found him to not be a threat at that time.
Mateen’s father, who was born in Afghanistan, says he’s just as shocked as the rest of the world that his son would commit such a crime:
“We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident. We weren’t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country.”
Mateen’s ex-wife, however, tells a different story, saying Matten was mentally unstable and physically abusive during their marriage from April 2009 – July 2011:
“He was not a stable person. He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.”
Mateen was shot and killed by police.
Gays are often targets of violence in the Middle East. ISIS members have filmed themselves beating and murdering gays, even throwing them off of rooftops.
Our condolences to the victims and their families of the Orlando shooting.
#PrayForOrlando