Official: Orlando Shooter Legally Purchased 2 Guns This Week

Terry DeCarlo, executive director of the LGBT Center of Central Florida, right, is comforted by an Orlando Police officer after a shooting involving multiple fatalities at a nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, June 1... Terry DeCarlo, executive director of the LGBT Center of Central Florida, right, is comforted by an Orlando Police officer after a shooting involving multiple fatalities at a nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, June 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack) MORE LESS
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Omar Mateen, the man identified as the shooter at the Orlando nightclub that left 50 people dead and dozens of others injured, purchased two firearms this week, a representative for the said Sunday.

Mateen was able to legally purchase the weapons after undergoing multiple interviews with the FBI for two separate investigations.

In 2013, an FBI official said in a news conference Sunday that Mateen was interviewed by the FBI after making “inflammatory” comments to co-workers.

He was also interviewed for another FBI investigation for a potential connection to a suicide bomber. Both investigations were closed, the FBI official said.

Mateen purchased a handgun and a “long gun,” the ATF official said. Law enforcement officials said that a handgun and a AR-15 assault rifle were used in the rampage early Sunday morning.

Mateen, who open fired, was killed after SWAT members began rescuing the 30-some hostages Mateen had captured.

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Notable Replies

  1. See, the NRA is right! No reason to ban weapons, since law enforcement can easily weed out the “problem” purchasers.

  2. Reaping what we’ve sown, indeed.

  3. Trump says he wants the RNC to be a real spectacle this year.

    If we can rush all those autopsies, maybe instead of addressing one empty chair they can address 50 full caskets?

    The sign can say: NRA - You Built These!

  4. Of course he did. And had he not died he would probably have been able to mount some bastardized stand your ground defense. Thanks NRA!

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

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