Orlando attack: Shooter pledged allegiance to IS

The man behind the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida made mention of the so-called Islamic State in a call with emergency services during the attack on Sunday, it has emerged, but details about his links with the terror organisation were still not clear on Monday morning.

Authorities in the southeastern state have confirmed Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, a New York native of Afghan heritage, was the person who killed at least 50 people at a nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The 29-year-old, from the coastal Florida town of Fort Pierce, died in a shootout with police during what was the most deadly mass shooting in United States history.

His apartment was reportedly searched by FBI agents, police and bomb squad teams for much of Sunday, with investigators keeping mum about what evidence - if anything - they have found.

Late on Sunday, a 911 call Mateen made around 20 minutes into the attack was revealed, in which he pledged allegiance to ISIS and spoke of the Boston Marathon bombers.

Timeline of attack (all times in Eastern Daylight Time, BST -0500)

Sunday 0202 - Shooting breaks out at Pulse, a gay nightclub in downtown Orlando. Around 320 people were present. An officer on uniformed duty at the club responds by opening fire on the shooter, with two nearby officers joining in the gun battle before the shooter enters the club’s interior. Around 100 officers from the Orlando Police Department and Orange County Sheriff’s Office respond.

Sunday 0209 - A message is posted to the Pulse Facebook, saying: “Everyone get out of Pulse and keep running.”

Sunday 0222 - Shooter calls emergency services, when he pledges allegiance to Islamic State and mentions the Boston bombers.

Sunday 0358 - The Orlando Police Department’s official Twitter account posts a tweet, saying: “Shooting at Pulse Nightclub on S Orange. Multiple injuries. Stay away from area.”

Sunday 0500 - Heavily armed police use an armoured vehicle to smash down a door of the club, with 30 people fleeing the building immediately. Officers confront the attacker in the doorway, shooting and killing him.

Sunday 0505 - Orlando police department warns against “reporting inaccuracies” as it confirms a loud sound was a controlled explosion by law enforcement.

Sunday 0553 - Orlando police confirm that the shooter is dead.

Weapons and ammunition purchased legally

Orlando police chief John Mina told the press on Sunday that the attacker was armed with a handgun, an assault rifle and an undetermined number of rounds when he attacked the Pulse nightclub.

Both of the weapons were purchased legally within the last few days, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge Trevor Velinor added.

It’s understood Mateen was employed as a security officer by G4S, a FTSE 250 security firm which issued a statement after the attack.

“We are cooperating fully with all law enforcement authorities, including the FBI, as the conduct their investigation,” the company said.

A neighbour told CNN that Mateen’s security work was at the courthouse in Port St. Lucie, a nearby town.

Authorities aware of attacker

The FBI revealed on Sunday that Mateen was on their radar, and that they had interviewed him in two terror-related cases that were subsequently closed.

“Those interviews turned out to be inconclusive, so there was nothing to keep the investigation going,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ronald Hopper at a press conference.

“The FBI became aware of Mateen in 2013 when he made inflammatory comments to co-workers alleging possible terrorist ties.”

Investigators were unable to verify the substance of his comments, Hopper said, and they did not make contact with him again until 2014 when they interviewed him over possible links with an American suicide bomber in Syria.

“We determined that contact was minimal and did not constitute a substantive relationship or threat at that time,” Hopper explained.

Mateen was one of hundreds of people on the agency’s radar suspected of sympathising with the Islamic State, officials had earlier said, though he was not under investigation or surveillance at the time of Sunday’s attack.

Mateen’s ex-wife speaks out

The attacker’s ex-wife Sitora Yusufiy held a press conference on Sunday, in which she told reporters she believed Mateen was emotionally unstable, and suffered from mental illness.

“In the beginning he was a normal being that cared about family, loved to joke, loved to have fun,” she said.

“But then a few months after we were married I saw his instability; I saw that he was bipolar and he would get mad out of nowhere.

“That’s when I started worrying about my safety,” Yusufiy added.

She met Mateen online seven years ago, with the abuse inflicted by Mateen becoming so traumatic that her family was forced to “rescue” her, she told reporters.