News article:

(CNN) The Orlando shooter and his wife exchanged text messages during the Pulse nightclub rampage, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told CNN. 
  
 Around 4 a.m. on June 12, about two hours after he started the attack and while holed up in a bathroom, Omar Mateen texted his wife, Noor Salman, asking if she'd seen the news, the official said. 
  
 At one point, she responded with a text saying that she loved him. Salman also tried calling her husband several times during the standoff, a second law enforcement official said. 
  
 The timing of her calls came after reports of the attack had emerged, and apparently after she realized her husband might be responsible. He didn't answer, the official said. 
  
 It's not clear if Salman made any attempt to report her husband during that time. 
  
 Salman is coming under increasing scrutiny as police investigate the killing of 49 people and wounding of at least 50 at the gay nightclub in Orlando. Authorities say Mateen carried out the killing with a Sig Sauer MCX semi-automatic assault-style rifle and a pistol. 
  
 Salman apparently gave conflicting accounts about what she knew of Mateen's intentions in the hours before the attack. authorities said. She also told investigators that in the weeks before the attack, Mateen spent thousands of dollars, including for the guns used in the attack. 
  
 Mateen and Salman married in 2011. They have a 3-year-old son and lived in Fort Pierce, about two hours from the massacre. 
  
 A U.S. attorney plans to bring evidence before a federal grand jury to determine whether charges will be filed, two law enforcement officials said. 
  
 Facebook postings 
  
 Mateen also vented on Facebook before and during the massacre. 
  
 "America and Russia stop bombing the Islamic state," the gunman wrote, according to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. 
  
 "You kill innocent women and children by doing us airstrikes ... now taste the Islamic state vengeance." 
  
 Then, in his final post, an ominous warning: ''In the next few days you will see attacks from the Islamic state in the usa." 
  
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 The messages were described in a letter from committee Chairman Ron Johnson to Mark Zuckerberg, asking the Facebook CEO to provide "all Facebook data on Mr. Mateen's activities on his account and any affiliated Facebook accounts." 
  
 It's not the only time Mateen invoked ISIS during his rampage early Sunday. In the middle of killing 49 people, Mateen also called 911 to pledge allegiance to the terror group and CNN affiliate News 13 to say, "I did it for ISIS. I did it for the Islamic State." 
  
 And an analysis of Mateen's electronic devices showed searches for jihadist propaganda, including videos of ISIS beheadings, an official said. 
  
 Reported gun store visit 
  
 The owner of a Florida gun store said Thursday that employees contacted the FBI four or five weeks ago because they became suspicious when Mateen tried to purchase body armor and a large amount of ammunition. 
  
 Robert Abell of Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach said a man asked for soft and then hardened body armor but was told the store didn't carry that merchandise. 
  
 During his visit, the man spoke on the phone to somebody in a foreign language and asked to buy 1,000 rounds of ammunition -- a request the store turned down, Abell said. 
  
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 The store called the FBI with the suspicions, Abell said, but didn't know the man's name. 
  
 The FBI investigated another incident reported by the gun store owner that coincided with Mateen's possible visit, three law enforcement officials told CNN. 
  
 Agents originally looked into a call from the store about a group of suspicious foreign men appearing to be of Middle Eastern descent, who were buying police gear. 
  
 The FBI tracked down the men, who were visiting government security officers from a Middle Eastern country. The purchase was not deemed suspicious, the sources said. 
  
 When the FBI closed the matter with the store, an employee mentioned another unidentified suspicious man who days before had tried to buy Level 3 body armor. 
  
 There was no name or any purchase record to review. The FBI asked the person at the store if there was surveillance footage or a car description or license plate. There wasn't. 
  
 After the shooting, store employees realized the man was Mateen, Abell said. 
  
 The FBI had no official comment on the matter when reached Thursday night. 
  
 Spokesmen for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Martin County Sheriff's Office said the agencies don't have any records of receiving calls from Lotus Gunworks. 
  
 ISIS, or personal conflict? 
  
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 Despite mounting pledges of allegiance to ISIS, some say they believe Mateen was actually fueled by struggles with his sexuality -- and may have latched on to ISIS as a vehicle for his anger. 
  
 Several regulars at the gay nightclub said the gunman visited frequently over the past few years. Cord Cedeno said Mateen saw him at Pulse and messaged him on Grindr, a gay dating app. 
  
 Cedeno said he wasn't interested in Mateen, but his friend was. 
  
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 "One of my friends ... has been speaking with him since 2007, on and off," on another gay dating app, Cedeno said. 
  
 "(Mateen) sent him a picture of his private part, and my friend actually was attracted to him. He almost went and hooked up with him." 
  
 FBI agents are interviewing people who claim they met the gunman on gay dating apps, a law enforcement official said. Those claims "certainly change the perspective," the source said. 
  
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 CNN military analyst Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling said the gunman's complex background makes the investigation challenging. 
  
 "I'm not a psychiatrist, but the struggle with his humanity, his sexuality, combined with the potential for putting the onus on an organization that's asking people to do this -- asking extremists to do these kinds of things -- is an interesting dynamic," he said. 
  
 "And that's the thing that makes this case so extremely difficult." 
  
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 The gunman's ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, said she was not sure about his sexuality. 
  
 "It doesn't surprise me that he might be gay," she said. "And it doesn't surprise me that he was leading two totally different lives and was in such deep conflict within himself." 
  
 But the gunman's father, Seddique Mateen, has said he didn't think his son was gay. He emphasized that Mateen had a wife and child. 
  
 Victim's video 
  
 Throughout Orlando, survivors mourned the dead and recalled their experience. 
  
 Miguel Leiva shot cell phone video while huddled inside a bathroom with about 16 other people, he told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday night. 
  
 The video showed people passing a cup of water around. One man was choking on his own blood, Leiva said. They whispered because they feared the gunman, who twice came back and fired his weapon, would return. 
  
 "I just remember you can smell the blood, there was so much blood," Leiva said. "All my clothes was full of blood. We were sitting down and there was a huge puddle of blood." 
  
 Only five or six people made it out alive, he said. Leiva was shot in the foot and leg. 
  
 "So many innocent people just there to have a good time." ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| The owner of a Florida gun store said he tried to alert the FBI to a "very suspicious" man later identified as Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen after Mateen tried to buy body armor and bulk ammunition from the store. 
  
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 Robert Abell, a co-owner of Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach, Florida, told ABC News today that a man entered the store five or six weeks ago and asked specific questions about high-end body armor. When employees said the store didn't carry the body armor he wanted, Abell said, the man made a phone call in a foreign language, hung up and then asked about ammunition in bulk. 
  
 Abell said a member of his staff thought the questions were "odd" and made him uncomfortable, so he turned the man away. 
  
 Abell added that they thought the man was "very suspicious," so they called the local FBI office in West Palm Beach and reported the incident. But they didn't have the man's name, since no sale was made, and the only surveillance footage they had was grainy. 
  
 "We gave them information and everything that took place, and that was the end of the conversation," he said. 
  
 There was a follow-up conversation with agents, Abell said, but the FBI never visited the store or investigated further. 
  
 That was the end of it until he saw the news about the Orlando shooting that took place early Sunday morning and images of the man identified as the killer: Mateen, the man who Abell said was in the store. 
  
 "He slipped through the cracks," Abell said. 
  
 He said his staffers contacted the FBI after the shooting to remind them about their run-in with the suspicious man. The store's surveillance tape, however, had long since been overwritten, he said. 
  
 Public affairs officials for the FBI's Miami field office, which oversees the West Palm Beach satellite office, and at headquarters in Washington, D.C., declined comment. 
  
 Earlier this week the FBI faced sharp questions for having investigated Mateen twice in 2013 and 2014 for purported ties to extremists and determining that he was not a threat. After reviewing those investigations, FBI Director James Comey said Monday he hadn't seen anything that his "agents should have done differently." 
  
 Comey also stressed the law enforcement motto "See something, say something." 
  
 "Every single one of our cases, as we look back, someone always sees something they should have told us, and they didn't," he said. "So our request to you is please don't let them make you work into a state of anxiety that is disabling. Find ways to channel that into a healthy awareness of your surroundings and live your lives." 
  
 Abell said he thought his team had "done [its] job" after contacting authorities. 
  
 Mateen, 29, began his attack on a popular gay Orlando nightclub at around 2 a.m. Sunday. At some point that morning, he posted on Facebook his allegiance to ISIS, a demand that the U.S. and Russia to "stop bombing" the Syrian-based terrorist group and a warning of attacks to come, FBI officials said. 
  
 "You kill innocent women and children by doing us airstrikes..now taste the Islamic state vengeance," Mateen posted, according to officials in the FBI’s counterterrorism division. "In the next few days you will see attacks from the Islamic State in the usa." 
  
 He killed 49 people before being gunned down by police. ||||| A somber President Barack Obama met privately Thursday with wounded victims and families of the 49 people slain in the Pulse nightclub massacre, telling them, “our hearts are broken, too.” 
  
 “Today, once again, as has been true so many times before, I held and hugged grieving family members and parents,” Obama told reporters after the two-hour meeting at the Amway Center in downtown Orlando. “And they asked, ‘Why does this keep happening?’” 
  
 After leaving the arena, the presidential motorcade drove to the nearby Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, where a makeshift memorial to the victims has sprung up on the lawn. 
  
 There, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden laid bouquets of 49 white roses. The two stood in silence for several moments, looking down at the hundreds of flowers, signs and tributes placed inside a rainbow paper chain. 
  
 PICTURE GALLERY: Orlando residents continue to recover in the aftermath of a mass shooting at Pulse nightclub that left 49 victims dead and another 53 injured. President Barack Obama and Vice President Biden visited Orlando on Thursday to pay respects to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shootings. 
  
 “Four days ago, this community was shaken by an evil, hateful act,” Obama said. “Today we are reminded of what is good — that there is compassion, empathy, decency, and most of all, there is love. That is the Orlando we’ve seen in recent days and that is the America we have seen.'' 
  
 The families, Obama said, had “grief beyond description.” 
  
 “Through their pain and through tears, they told us about the joy their loved ones had brought to their lives,” Obama said. “They talked about their sons and their daughters. So many young people in their 20s and 30s … One young woman who was just 18 years old.’’ 
  
 Obama also spoke about the mother who gave her life for her son, as well as the former Marine “whose quick thinking saved hundreds of lives.” 
  
 “These families could be our families,” Obama said. “In fact, they are our families. They’re part of the American family. On behalf of the American people, our hearts are broken, too. We stand with you. We’re here for you. And we are remembering those you loved so deeply.” 
  
 He said the U.S. must continue to be “relentless” against ISIS and Al Qaeda terror networks. 
  
 “We are going to destroy them,” he said. 
  
 But he pointed out that the last two terrorist attacks on the U.S. — Orlando and San Bernardino — were “home grown.” 
  
 "Those families could be our families. In fact, they are our families. They're part of the American family." — President Obama 
  
 The attack was done by “a single killer with a powerful assault rifle,” Obama said. 
  
 “If we don’t act,” Obama said, “we will keep seeing more massacres like this, because we'll be choosing to allow this to happen. We’ll have said we don’t care enough to do something about it.” 
  
 Obama also called the shootings an attack on the LGBT community, calling Pulse a “sanctuary ... violated in the worst way imaginable.” 
  
 Spectators were not allowed to attend the president’s remarks at the Dr. Phillips Center, but crowds collected in parking lots across South Street, hoping to catch a glimpse of the president or snap a picture. 
  
 “It’s good for everybody,” said Maria Herrera, who joined a throng outside the church. “We feel secure because our president is here. We are very happy, because he is going to help the people who lost their relatives.” 
  
 Herrera, who moved to Central Florida from Peru, held a pair of balloons and two signs: “Peruvians against terrorism,” said one, while the other proclaimed that “the church loves LGBT.” 
  
 The president’s four-hour trip began when Air Force One arrived at Orlando International Airport at 12:45 p.m. Biden came separately on Air Force Two, also arriving at OIA. 
  
 The president was greeted on the tarmac by Gov. Rick Scott, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs. 
  
 The motorcade, escorted by dozens of police motorcycles, arrived at Amway at about 1:30 p.m., with the vehicles entering the building through huge bay doors. 
  
 Christina Dangelo of Sanford watched as the president arrived there. 
  
 “I came here to show support for the victims and their families and to show support for our country, and what's going on in Orlando,” she said, calling the president's visit “very thoughtful of him.” 
  
 Dangelo said Target, where she works, held a moment of silence for the victims, two of whom she said also worked for the retailer. 
  
 “It's been very hard on everybody, but I feel the love and the support, and everybody coming together ... to support each other,” she said. 
  
 POTUS motorcade arrives at Amway Arena to provide support for families/survivors of Pulse nightclub shooting POTUS motorcade arrives at Amway Arena to provide support for families/survivors of Pulse nightclub shooting SEE MORE VIDEOS 
  
 Outside the arena, Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who flew from Washington with Biden, said Obama and Biden also met in the arena with the Orlando officers involved in the standoff at Pulse. 
  
 Nelson said he agrees with the president that the violence in Orlando must spur action on gun legislation. 
  
 He said he wants a vote on bills that would prohibit people on the terror watch list from purchasing firearms and alert the FBI when those who have previously been on the list purchase guns. 
  
 “At the end of the day we need to ban assault rifles,” Nelson said. “This fellow [the Pulse gunman] had the equivalent of a souped-up M-16 military rifle.” 
  
 slemongello@orlandosentinel.com ||||| While the U.S. attorney in Orlando is remaining tight-lipped about whether he will ask a grand jury to investigate Omar Mateen’s widow or anyone else in connection with the deadly shooting at Pulse nightclub, veteran criminal defense attorneys say there is little doubt that he will. 
  
 A grand jury is the only tool federal prosecutors have to investigate felony crimes to determine whether charges should be filed against those involved, they explained. Unlike state attorneys, who are empowered to subpoena bank, phone and social media records and summon witnesses to testify, federal prosecutors have to go through a grand jury to build a case. 
  
 “The grand jury is the only vehicle the federal government has to collect information and compel the production of documents,” said West Palm Beach defense attorney Richard Lubin. 
  
 And, attorneys said, despite widespread speculation about the role Noor Salman played in her husband’s rampage that claimed 50 lives, including his own, they don’t expect the investigation into the deadliest shooting in the nation’s history will wrap up quickly. 
  
 “It’s just not a case you want to indict unless you’re sure you can get a conviction,” said West Palm Beach defense attorney Jack Goldberger. He said he knows Lee Bentley, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, to be a meticulous prosecutor. 
  
 + Drew Angerer One local defense attorney who knows Lee Bentley, the U.S. attorney in Orlando, said don’t expect a fast decision. “He will ... read more Drew Angerer × 
  
 “He will move very deliberately and take his time before making any decisions,” Goldberger said. 
  
 Both he and Lubin disputed notions that Bentley is looking into the 30-year-old Salman simply for failing to report her husband’s plans to carry out the deadly attack, technically called misprision of a felony, punishable by a three-year prison term. Such charges are rarely filed and generally difficult to prove. 
  
 “Is she a principal?” Lubin said of the question Bentley is asking. 
  
 Conflicting statements Salman allegedly gave law enforcement that have been widely leaked to the press have been stunningly incriminating, attorneys said. 
  
 If, as has been reported, she drove Mateen, 29, from their home in Fort Pierce to the nightclub on previous occasions, helped him scout other locations or was with him when he purchased the weapons, she could be indicted as a co-conspirator. 
  
 “Then she could be an aider and abettor, and if she is, then she’s just as guilty as her husband was,” Goldberger said. 
  
 Fort Lauderdale defense attorney Bruce Zimet, a former federal prosecutor, said it is a time-honored rule that federal prosecutors seek an indictment for the highest-level crime available based on the evidence. In Salman’s case, it could be conspiracy to commit terrorism. 
  
 Zimet said he has been shocked at reports that she has made statements to FBI agents without an attorney present. While he and others said they expect her to refuse to testify before a grand jury, she can’t erase the past. 
  
 “Any statement she has given to law enforcement can be used against her,” Zimet said. “That’s why it’s so crazy for her to be talking from a technical and legal standpoint.” 
  
 He said there’s an axiom among prosecutors that Salman clearly was unaware of: “The only way a fish can get caught is if the fish opens its mouth.” 
  
 But, Lubin cautioned, there may be good reasons she is cooperating. “She may be giving them the names of others who are not cooperating,” he said. She along with bank and phone records and other documents could help prosecutors determine whether Mateen was a “lone wolf” or whether he was being directed by others. “There’s nothing standard about this case,” he said. 
  
 There is no evidence Salman, who was raised in California and met her husband online, has been detained. Her father-in-law, Seddique Mateen, who has held impromptu news conferences with reporters camped outside his Port St. Lucie house, said Thursday that she is no longer in Florida. She was captured by a news crew leaving the couple’s Fort Pierce home earlier this week wearing a white hoodie, but she gave no statement. 
  
 Attorneys said it is likely federal agents are watching her closely. If she makes any attempt to leave the country, there is no doubt she will be arrested, Goldberger said. 
  
 However, Lubin said, federal prosecutors want to avoid that because then the clock starts ticking. An indictment has to be filed 21 days after an arrest. If there is no indictment, a hearing would be held to allow a federal magistrate to determine whether there is probable cause to hold her in connection with the attack. 
  
 Prosecutors try to avoid a public airing of a case they are building, Goldberger said. “They very, very zealously protect whatever evidence they have gathered,” he said. 
  
 Further, he said, if they haven’t had time to collect bank records, phone messages and other documents they need, their case could fall apart. 
  
 That’s why they convene grand juries before making an arrest, Lubin said. “They need time to get their ducks in a row,” he said. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?
– A missed chance? Even without his name on a watch list, Orlando gunman Omar Mateen raised suspicions in at least one gun store in the weeks before he slaughtered 49 people at the Pulse nightclub. Robert Abell, co-owner of Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach, Fla., tells ABC that a man he now knows was Mateen tried to buy high-end body armor of a kind typically used by law enforcement and 1,000 rounds of ammo five or six weeks ago. He says Mateen asked strange questions and made staff uncomfortable, so they turned him away and informed the local FBI office about the would-be customer. Abell says there was a follow-up conversation with the FBI, but agents never visited the store—and without a sale, the store didn't have a name to give to investigators. In other coverage: Massacre survivor Miguel Leiva has shared video from the bathroom stall where he huddled for hours with around a dozen other people, some of whom had already been shot. It provides a glimpse of the terror inside the club in the hours before a SWAT team moved in. "It was really hot in there, the smell of blood and just dead bodies everywhere," Leiva tells CBS. The New York Times has interviews with several survivors, including people who suffered multiple bullet wounds. Angel Colon has a chilling account of trying to play dead as the gunman shot wounded people on the floor. Law enforcement sources tell CNN that Mateen texted his wife hours after the attack began, asking her if she had seen the news. She told him she loved him and tried to call several times, the sources say. The Miami Herald reports on a mysterious incident from Mateen's past: His firing from a job in a state prison midway through his training, apparently over an incident involving serious misconduct. The Orlando Sentinel reports on President Obama's visit to Orlando Thursday, where he met with victims' relatives in private. "Today, once again, as has been true so many times before, I held and hugged grieving family members and parents," Obama told reporters afterward. "And they asked, 'Why does this keep happening?'" The Palm Beach Post looks at the possible charges against Mateen's wife, Noor Salman, and at why an indictment could take a long time. (There were moving scenes when JetBlue fliers realized a fellow Orlando-bound passenger was mourning a grandson killed in the attack.)
Nyhetsartikel: (CNN) Orlando skytten och hans fru utbytte sms under Pulse nattklubb framfart, en brottsbekämpande tjänsteman informerade om utredningen berättade CNN. Omkring klockan fyra på morgonen den 12 juni, ungefär två timmar efter att han startat attacken och medan han gömde sig i ett badrum, sms:ade Omar Mateen sin fru, Noor Salman, och frågade om hon hade sett nyheterna, sade tjänstemannen. Vid ett tillfälle svarade hon med en text som sade att hon älskade honom. Salman försökte också ringa sin make flera gånger under dödläget, sade en andra brottsbekämpande tjänsteman. Tidpunkten för hennes samtal kom efter att rapporter om attacken hade kommit fram, och tydligen efter att hon insett att hennes man kan vara ansvarig. Han svarade inte, sade ämbetsmannen. Det är inte klart om Salman försökte anmäla sin man under den tiden. Salman blir allt mer granskad när polisen utreder dödandet av 49 personer och sårandet av minst 50 på gay nattklubben i Orlando. Enligt myndigheterna utförde Mateen mordet med ett halvautomatiskt automatgevär och en pistol. Salman gav tydligen motstridiga redogörelser om vad hon visste om Mateens avsikter under timmarna före attacken. sade myndigheterna. Hon berättade också för utredare att Mateen under veckorna före attacken spenderade tusentals dollar, bland annat för de vapen som användes i attacken. Mateen och Salman gifte sig 2011. De har en 3-årig son och bodde i Fort Pierce, ungefär två timmar från massakern. En amerikansk advokat planerar att lägga fram bevis inför en federal åtalsjury för att avgöra om åtal kommer att väckas, sade två poliser. Facebookinlägg Mateen ventilerade också på Facebook före och under massakern. "Amerika och Ryssland slutar bomba den islamiska staten", skrev revolvermannen, enligt ordföranden i senatens utskott för inrikes säkerhet och regeringsärenden. "Du dödar oskyldiga kvinnor och barn genom att göra oss airstrikes ... nu smaka den islamiska statens hämnd." Sedan, i sin sista post, en olycksbådande varning: ''Om några dagar kommer du att se attacker från den islamiska staten i usa." Just WATCHED New video of Orlando shooter framkommer Replay More Videos ... MÅSTE WATCH Ny video av Orlando shooter dyker upp 01:50 Meddelandena beskrevs i ett brev från utskottets ordförande Ron Johnson till Mark Zuckerberg, där han bad Facebooks VD att tillhandahålla "alla Facebook-uppgifter om Mr Mateens aktiviteter på hans konto och alla anslutna Facebook-konton." Det är inte enda gången Mateen åberopade ISIS under hans framfart tidigt på söndagen. Mitt i att döda 49 personer ringde Mateen också 911 för att svära trohet till terrorgruppen och CNN affiliate News 13 för att säga, "Jag gjorde det för ISIS. Jag gjorde det för Islamiska staten." Och en analys av Mateens elektroniska enheter visade sökningar efter jihadistisk propaganda, inklusive videor av ISIS halshuggningar, sade en tjänsteman. Rapporterat vapenaffärsbesök Ägaren av en vapenaffär i Florida sa på torsdag att anställda kontaktade FBI för fyra eller fem veckor sedan eftersom de blev misstänksamma när Mateen försökte köpa kroppspansar och en stor mängd ammunition. Robert Abell från Lotus Gunworks i Jensen Beach sa att en man bad om mjuk och sedan härdad kroppspansar men fick veta att affären inte bar den där varan. Under sitt besök talade mannen i telefon med någon på ett främmande språk och bad att få köpa 1000 ammunitionsrundor -- en förfrågan affären tackade nej till, sade Abell. Just WATCHED Orlando GoFundMe slår skiva Replay More Videos ... MÅSTE WATCH Orlando GoFundMe slår rekord 01:49 Butiken ringde FBI med misstankarna, Abell sa, men visste inte mannens namn. FBI utredde en annan incident som rapporterades av vapenbutiksägaren som sammanföll med Mateens möjliga besök, tre poliser berättade för CNN. Agenter tittade ursprungligen in i ett samtal från affären om en grupp misstänkta utländska män som verkade vara av Mellanöstern härkomst, som köpte polisutrustning. FBI spårade upp männen, som besökte regeringens säkerhetspoliser från ett Mellanösternland. Köpet ansågs inte misstänkt, sade källorna. När FBI avslutade affären nämnde en anställd en annan misstänkt man som flera dagar tidigare hade försökt köpa likrustning på nivå 3. Det fanns inget namn eller något inköpsrekord att granska. FBI frågade personen i affären om det fanns övervakningsbilder eller en bilbeskrivning eller registreringsskylt. Det fanns det inte. Efter skottlossningen insåg butiksanställda att mannen var Mateen, sade Abell. FBI hade ingen officiell kommentar i frågan när de nådde torsdag kväll. Talare för Florida Department of Law Enforcement och Martin County Sheriff's Office sa att byråerna inte har några uppgifter om att ta emot samtal från Lotus Gunworks. ISIS, eller personlig konflikt? BARA VITTNA Vittnet: Vi trodde att skotten var en del av musiken Replay More Videos ... MÅSTE VITTNA Vittnet: Vi trodde att skotten var en del av musiken 05:24 Trots att man svor allt mer på ISIS, säger vissa att Mateen faktiskt var underblåst av kampen med sin sexualitet -- och kan ha fastnat på ISIS som ett verktyg för hans ilska. Flera stamgäster på gay nattklubben sade att revolvermannen besökt ofta under de senaste åren. Cord Cedeno sa att Mateen såg honom på Pulse och meddelade honom på Grindr, en gay dejting app. Cedeno sa att han inte var intresserad av Mateen, men hans vän var det. Blotta tittat Steve King: 'Gays var riktade i Orlando, och det spelar roll' Replay More Videos ... MÅSTE VITTNA Steve King: 'Gays var riktade i Orlando, och det spelar roll' 06:48 "En av mina vänner ... har talat med honom sedan 2007, till och från," på en annan gay dating app, Cedeno sade. "(Mateen) skickade honom en bild av sin privata del, och min vän faktiskt var attraherad av honom. Han gick nästan och fick ihop det med honom." FBI-agenter intervjuar folk som påstår att de träffat revolvermannen på gay dejtingappar, en polistjänsteman sa. Dessa påståenden "förvisso ändra perspektivet", sade källan. Var Orlando skytten bög? Spela upp fler videos ... MÅSTE VATTNA Var Orlando skytten gay? 01:54 CNN militäranalytiker generallöjtnant Mark Hertling sa att revolvermannens komplexa bakgrund gör utredningen utmanande. "Jag är ingen psykiater, men kampen med hans mänsklighet, hans sexualitet, kombinerat med möjligheten att sätta på en organisation som ber människor att göra detta -- ber extremister att göra sådana saker -- är en intressant dynamik," sade han. "Och det är det som gör fallet så extremt svårt." Just WATCHED Ex-frun: Jag ifrågasatte hans sexualitet Replay More Videos ... MÅSTE WATCH Ex-fru: Jag ifrågasatte hans sexualitet 02:01 Vapenmannens ex-fru, Sitora Yusufiy, sa att hon inte var säker på hans sexualitet. "Det förvånar mig inte, att han kan vara homosexuell", sade hon. "Och det förvånar mig inte att han levde två helt olika liv och befann sig i en så djup konflikt inom sig själv." Men revolvermannens far, Seddique Mateen, har sagt att han inte trodde att hans son var bög. Han betonade att Mateen hade fru och barn. Offrets video I hela Orlando sörjde överlevande de döda och återkallade deras erfarenheter. Miguel Leiva filmade mobilvideo medan han låg i ett badrum med ungefär 16 andra personer, han berättade för CNN:s Anderson Cooper på torsdag kväll. Videon visade människor som passerade en kopp vatten runt. En man kvävdes av sitt eget blod, sa Leiva. De viskade eftersom de fruktade att revolvermannen, som två gånger kom tillbaka och avlossade sitt vapen, skulle återvända. "Jag kommer bara ihåg att du känner lukten av blodet, det var så mycket blod," sade Leiva. "Alla mina kläder var fulla av blod. Vi satt ner och det var en stor blodpöl." Bara fem eller sex personer klarade sig levande, sa han. Leiva sköts i fot och ben. "Så många oskyldiga människor bara för att ha roligt." Från och med 1996 har Alexa Internet donerat sina krypdata till Internet Archive. Dessa data flödar in varje dag och läggs till i Wayback Machine efter en embargoperiod. Ägaren av en vapenaffär i Florida sa att han försökte varna FBI för en "mycket misstänksam" man som senare identifierades som Orlando nattklubbsskytten Omar Mateen efter att Mateen försökt köpa kroppspansar och bulk ammunition från butiken. Intresserad av ? Lägg till som ett intresse för att hålla dig uppdaterad på de senaste nyheterna, video och analys från ABC News. Lägg till intresse Robert Abell, delägare i Lotus Gunworks i Jensen Beach, Florida, berättade för ABC News idag att en man gick in i butiken för fem eller sex veckor sedan och ställde specifika frågor om high-end kroppsrustning. När de anställda sa att affären inte hade med sig de kroppspansar han ville ha, sa Abell, att mannen ringde ett samtal på ett främmande språk, lade på och frågade sedan om ammunition i bulk. Abell sa att en i hans stab tyckte frågorna var "udda" och gjorde honom obekväm, så han vände mannen bort. Abell tillade att de trodde att mannen var "mycket misstänksam", så de ringde det lokala FBI-kontoret i West Palm Beach och rapporterade händelsen. Men de hade inte mannens namn, eftersom ingen försäljning gjordes, och den enda övervakningsfilmen de hade var kornig. "Vi gav dem information och allt som ägde rum, och det var slutet på samtalet," sade han. Abell sa att det var ett samtal med agenter, men FBI besökte aldrig butiken eller undersökte vidare. Det var slutet på det tills han såg nyheten om Orlando-skjutningen som ägde rum tidigt på söndagsmorgonen och bilder av mannen som identifierades som mördaren: Mateen, mannen som Abell sade var i butiken. »Han slank genom sprickorna», sade Abell. Han sa att hans medarbetare kontaktade FBI efter skottlossningen för att påminna dem om deras inkörning med den misstänkte mannen. Affärens övervakningsband hade dock för länge sedan blivit överskrivet, sade han. Public Affairs tjänstemän för FBI: s Miami fältkontor, som övervakar West Palm Beach satellitkontor, och vid huvudkontoret i Washington, D.C., avböjde kommentarer. Tidigare i veckan FBI mötte skarpa frågor för att ha undersökt Mateen två gånger under 2013 och 2014 för påstådda band till extremister och fastställa att han inte var ett hot. Efter att ha granskat dessa undersökningar sa FBI-chefen James Comey att han på måndag inte hade sett något som hans "agenter borde ha gjort annorlunda". Comey betonade även det brottsbekämpande mottot "Se något, säg något". "Varje enskilt av våra fall, när vi ser tillbaka, någon alltid ser något de borde ha berättat för oss, och de gjorde inte," sade han. "Så vår begäran till dig är snälla låt dem inte få dig att arbeta in i ett tillstånd av ångest som är invalidiserande. Hitta sätt att kanalisera det till en hälsosam medvetenhet om din omgivning och leva dina liv." Abell sade att han trodde att hans team hade "gjort [sitt] jobb" efter att ha kontaktat myndigheter. Mateen, 29 år, började sin attack på en populär gay Orlando nattklubb omkring klockan 02:00 söndag. Vid något tillfälle den morgonen, han postade på Facebook sin lojalitet till ISIS, ett krav på att USA och Ryssland att "stoppa bombningen" den syrisk-baserade terroristgruppen och en varning om attacker som kommer, FBI tjänstemän sade. "Du dödar oskyldiga kvinnor och barn genom att göra oss airstrices.. nu smaka den islamiska statens hämnd", Mateen postade, enligt tjänstemän i FBI: s kontraterrorist division. "Om några dagar kommer du att se attacker från den islamiska staten i USA." Han dödade 49 personer innan han sköts ner av polisen. En dyster president Barack Obama träffade privat torsdag med sårade offer och familjer till de 49 personer som dödats i nattklubbsmassakern Pulse, och berättade för dem, "våra hjärtan är också krossade." "I dag, återigen, som har varit sant så många gånger tidigare, höll jag och kramade sörjande familjemedlemmar och föräldrar," Obama berättade reportrar efter två timmars möte på Amway Center i centrala Orlando. “Och de frågade, ‘Varför fortsätter detta att hända?’” Efter att ha lämnat arenan, körde presidentens bilkortege till den närliggande Dr Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, där en tillfällig minnesmärke över offren har sprutat upp på gräsmattan. Där lade Obama och vicepresident Joe Biden buketter med 49 vita rosor. De två stodo i tystnad i flera ögonblick och sågo ned på de hundratals blommor, tecken och hyllningar, som voro placerade innanför en regnbågens papperskedja. Orlando-borna återhämtar sig efter en massskjutning på nattklubben Pulse. 49 offer dog och 53 skadades. President Barack Obama och vicepresident Biden besökte Orlando på torsdag för att hedra offren för nattklubbsmorden i Pulse. “För fyra dagar sedan skakades denna gemenskap av en ond, hatisk handling,” Obama sade. — I dag påminns vi om vad som är gott — att det finns medlidande, empati, anständighet, och framför allt finns det kärlek. Det är Orlando vi har sett de senaste dagarna och det är det Amerika vi har sett.'' Familjerna, sade Obama, hade “gråt bortom beskrivning.” “Genom sin smärta och genom tårar, berättade de om den glädje deras nära och kära hade fört till sina liv,” sade Obama. — De talade om sina söner och döttrar. Så många ungdomar i 20- och 30-årsåldern ... En ung kvinna som bara var 18 år gammal.’’ Obama talade också om modern som gav sitt liv för sin son, liksom den tidigare marinen “vars snabba tänkande räddade hundratals liv.” “Dessa familjer kunde vara våra familjer,” sade Obama. — I själva verket äro de våra familjer. De ingår i den amerikanska familjen. Å det amerikanska folkets vägnar är våra hjärtan också krossade. Vi står med dig. Vi finns här för dig. Och vi kommer ihåg dem du älskade så djupt.” Han sade att USA måste fortsätta att vara ”relentless” mot ISIS och al-Qaida terrornätverk. — Vi skola förgöra dem, sade han. Men han påpekade att de två senaste terrorattackerna mot USA — Orlando och San Bernardino — var "hemvuxna". "Dessa familjer kunde vara våra familjer. De är faktiskt våra familjer. De är en del av den amerikanska familjen." — President Obama Attacken gjordes av "en enda mördare med ett kraftfullt anfallsgevär", sade Obama. “Om vi inte agerar”, sade Obama, “kommer vi att fortsätta att se fler massakrer som denna, eftersom vi kommer att välja att låta detta hända. Vi kommer att ha sagt att vi inte bryr sig tillräckligt för att göra något åt det. " Obama kallade också skottlossningarna en attack mot HBTQ-samfundet, kallar Pulse en "helgedom ... kränkt på värsta tänkbara sätt." Spectators fick inte närvara vid presidentens kommentarer på Dr Phillips Center, men folkmassor samlas på parkeringsplatser över South Street, i hopp om att fånga en glimt av presidenten eller knäppa en bild. — Det är bra för alla, sade Maria Herrera, som slöt sig till en skara utanför kyrkan. "Vi känner oss trygga eftersom vår president är här. Vi är mycket glada, eftersom han kommer att hjälpa de människor som förlorat sina släktingar. Herrera, som flyttade till centrala Florida från Peru, höll ett par ballonger och två tecken: “Peruvianer mot terrorism”, sade den ena, medan den andra förkunnade att “kyrkan älskar HBTQ.” Presidentens fyra timmars resa började när Air Force One anlände till Orlando International Airport klockan 12:45 Biden kom separat på Air Force Two, också anländer till OIA. Presidenten hälsades välkommen på asfalten av Gov. Rick Scott, USA:s sen Marco Rubio, Orlando borgmästare Buddy Dyer och Orange Countys borgmästare Teresa Jacobs. Bilkortegan, som eskorterades av dussintals polismotorcyklar, anlände till Amway omkring klockan 13.30, med fordonen in i byggnaden genom enorma vikdörrar. Christina Dangelo från Sanford såg på när presidenten kom dit. “Jag kom hit för att visa stöd för offren och deras familjer och för att visa stöd för vårt land, och vad som händer i Orlando,” sade hon, kallar presidentens besök “mycket omtänksam om honom.” Dangelo sade Target, där hon arbetar, höll en stund av tystnad för offren, två som hon sade också arbetade för återförsäljaren. “Det har varit mycket svårt för alla, men jag känner kärleken och stödet, och alla kommer tillsammans ... för att stödja varandra,” sade hon. Potus bilkortege anländer till Amway Arena för att ge stöd till familjer / överlevande av Pulse nattklubb skytte Potus bilkortege anländer till Amway Arena för att ge stöd för familjer / överlevande av Pulse nattklubb skytte SE MER VIDEOS Utanför arenan, Demokratiska USA Sen. Bill Nelson, som flög från Washington med Biden, sade Obama och Biden möttes också i arenan med Orlando officerarna inblandade i standoff på Pulse. Nelson sa att han håller med presidenten om att våldet i Orlando måste sporra till vapenlagstiftning. Han ville ha en omröstning om lagförslag som skulle förbjuda folk på terroristbevakningslistan att köpa skjutvapen och varna FBI när de som tidigare varit med på listan köper vapen. — I slutet av dagen måste vi förbjuda misshandelsgevär, sade Nelson. “Den här killen [pulspistolmannen] hade motsvarigheten till en soppad-upp M-16 militärgevär.” slemongello@orlandosentinel.com • • Medan den amerikanska advokaten i Orlando är fortfarande hårt över-lipped om huruvida han kommer att be en åtalsjury att undersöka Omar Mateens änka eller någon annan i samband med den dödliga skottlossningen på Pulse nattklubb, veteraner brottmålsadvokater säger att det är föga tvivel om att han kommer. En åtalsjury är det enda verktyget federala åklagare har för att utreda brott för att avgöra om åtal ska väckas mot de inblandade, förklarade de. Till skillnad från statsåklagare, som har befogenhet att väcka åtal mot bank, telefon och sociala medier och kalla vittnen att vittna, måste federala åklagare gå igenom en åtalsjury för att bygga ett fall. “Galljuryn är det enda fordonet den federala regeringen har att samla in information och tvinga fram dokument,” sade West Palm Beach försvarsadvokat Richard Lubin. Och, sade advokater, trots utbredda spekulationer om den roll Noor Salman spelade i sin makes framfart som krävde 50 liv, däribland hans egna, de förväntar sig inte att undersökningen om den dödligaste skottlossningen i nationens historia kommer att avslutas snabbt. — Det är just inte ett fall man vill åtala, om man inte är säker på att man kan få en fällande dom, sade West Palm Beachs försvarsadvokat Jack Goldberger. Han sa att han känner Lee Bentley, USA: s advokat för Middle District i Florida, för att vara en noggrann åklagare. + Drew Angerer En lokal försvarsadvokat som känner Lee Bentley, den amerikanska advokaten i Orlando, sade inte förvänta sig ett snabbt beslut. “Han kommer ... Läs mer Drew Angerer × “Han kommer att röra sig mycket medvetet och ta sin tid innan du fattar några beslut,” Goldberger sade. Både han och Lubin bestrider föreställningar om att Bentley undersöker den 30-årige Salman helt enkelt för att ha underlåtit att rapportera sin makes planer på att genomföra den dödliga attacken, tekniskt kallad misprision av ett brott, som bestraffas med en treårig fängelseperiod. Sådana anklagelser lämnas sällan in och är i allmänhet svåra att bevisa. — Är hon rektor? sade Lubin om den fråga Bentley ställer. Konfliktfulla uttalanden Salman påstås ha gett brottsbekämpning som har läckt ut till pressen har varit häpnadsväckande komprometterande, sade advokaterna. Om hon, vilket har rapporterats, körde Mateen, 29, från deras hem i Fort Pierce till nattklubben vid tidigare tillfällen, hjälpte honom att spana på andra platser eller var med honom när han köpte vapnen, kunde hon åtalas som medkonspiratör. — Då kunde hon vara medhjälpare och medhjälpare, och om hon är det, då är hon lika skyldig som sin man var, sade Goldberger. Fort Lauderdales försvarsadvokat Bruce Zimet, en före detta federal åklagare, sa att det är en tidsenlig regel att federala åklagare söker åtal för det högsta brott som finns baserat på bevisen. I Salmans fall kan det vara konspiration att begå terrorism. Zimet sa att han blivit chockad över rapporter om att hon har gjort uttalanden till FBI-agenter utan att ha en advokat närvarande. Medan han och andra sade att de förväntar sig att hon ska vägra att vittna inför en åtalsjury, kan hon inte radera det förflutna. — Varje uttalande hon har givit till brottsbekämpning kan användas mot henne, sade Zimet. “Det är därför det är så galet för henne att prata från en teknisk och juridisk ståndpunkt.” Han sade att det finns ett axiom bland åklagare som Salman tydligt var omedveten om: “Det enda sättet en fisk kan bli fångad är om fisken öppnar munnen.” Men Lubin varnade, det kan finnas goda skäl till att hon samarbetar. — Hon kanske ger dem namnen på andra, som inte samarbeta, sade han. Hon tillsammans med bank- och telefonregister och andra dokument kunde hjälpa åklagare att avgöra om Mateen var en ”lonvarg” eller om han blev regisserad av andra. — Det finns ingenting standard i det här fallet, sade han. Det finns inga bevis för att Salman, som uppfostrades i Kalifornien och träffade sin man online, har häktats. Hennes svärfar, Seddique Mateen, som har hållit impromptu nyhetskonferenser med reportrar som slagit läger utanför hans Port St Lucie hus, sade torsdag att hon inte längre är i Florida. Hon tillfångatogs av ett nyhetsteam som lämnade parets Fort Pierce hemma tidigare i veckan iförd en vit huvtröja, men hon gav inget uttalande. Åklagarna sa att FBI bevakar henne noga. Om hon gör något försök att lämna landet, kommer hon utan tvivel att bli arresterad, sade Goldberger. Lubin sade dock att federala åklagare vill undvika det för då börjar klockan ticka. Ett åtal måste väckas 21 dagar efter ett gripande. Om det inte finns något åtal, skulle ett förhör hållas för att låta en federal domare avgöra om det finns sannolika skäl att hålla henne kvar i samband med attacken. Åklagare försöker undvika att få ett offentligt svar på ett fall som de håller på att bygga upp, sade Goldberger. — De skydda mycket, mycket nitiskt, vilka bevis de än ha samlat på sig, sade han. Vidare, sade han, om de inte har haft tid att samla in bankkonton, telefonsamtal och andra dokument som de behöver, deras fall kan falla isär. Det är därför de sammankallar stora juryer innan de gör en arrestering, sade Lubin. — De behöfva tid att få sina ankor i rad, sade han. Vad är en kortare version av ovanstående artikel?
News article: (CNN) Orlando the shooter and his wife exchanged text messages during Pulse nightclub rampage, a law enforcement official informed about the investigation told CNN. About four o'clock in the morning of June 12, about two hours after he started the attack and while hiding in a bathroom, Omar Mateen texted his wife, Noor Salman, asking if she had seen the news, the official said. On one occasion she responded with a text saying she loved him. Salman also tried to call her husband several times during the standoff, said a second law enforcement official. The timing of her call came after reports of the attack had arrived, and apparently after she realized that her husband might be responsible. He did not answer, the official said. It's not clear if Salman tried to report his husband during that time. Salman is increasingly under scrutiny as police investigate the killing of 49 people and the wounding of at least 50 at the gay nightclub in Orlando. According to the authorities, Mateen committed the murder with a semi-automatic automatic rifle and a gun. Salman apparently gave conflicting accounts of what she knew about Mateen's intentions in the hours prior to the attack. said the authorities. She also told investigators that in the weeks prior to the attack Mateen spent thousands of dollars, including for the weapons used in the attack. Mateen and Salman married in 2011. They have a 3-year-old son and lived in Fort Pierce, about two hours from the massacre. A U.S. attorney plans to present evidence before a federal grand jury to determine whether charges will be filed, two police officers said. Facebook posts Mateen also ventilated on Facebook before and during the massacre. "America and Russia stop bombing the Islamic state," wrote the gunman, according to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Domestic Security and Government Affairs. "You kill innocent women and children by making us airstrikes ... now taste the revenge of the Islamic state." Then, in his final post, an ominous warning: ''In a few days you will see attacks from the Islamic state in the U.S.A.'." Just WATCHED New video of Orlando shooter emerges Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH New video of Orlando shooter appears 01:50 The messages were described in a letter from committee chairman Ron Johnson to Mark Zuckerberg, asking Facebook's CEO to provide "all Facebook details of Mr. Mateen's activities on his account and all connected Facebook accounts." It is not the only time Mateen invoked ISIS during his rampage early on Sunday. In the midst of killing 49 people, Mateen also called 911 to swear allegiance to the terror group and CNN affiliate News 13 to say, "I did it for ISIS. I did it for the Islamic State." And an analysis of Mateen's electronic devices showed searches for jihadist propaganda, including videos of ISIS beheadings, said an official. Reported gun deal visit The owner of a gun store in Florida said Thursday that employees contacted the FBI four or five weeks ago because they became suspicious when Mateen tried to buy body armor and a large amount of ammunition. Robert Abell of Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach said a man asked for soft and then hardened body armor but was told that the store did not wear that item. During his visit, the man spoke on the phone with someone in a foreign language and asked to buy 1000 rounds of ammunition -- a request the deal turned down, Abell said. Just WATCHED Orlando GoFundMe breaks record Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Orlando GoFundMe breaks record 01:49 The store called the FBI with suspicions, Abell said, but did not know the man's name. The FBI investigated another incident reported by the gun shop owner that coincided with Mateen's possible visit, three police officers told CNN. Agents originally looked into a call from the store about a group of suspected foreign men who appeared to be of Middle East descent, who bought police equipment. The FBI tracked down the men who visited the government's security officers from a Middle East country. The purchase was not considered suspicious, the sources said. When the FBI closed the deal, one employee mentioned another suspected man who had tried several days earlier to purchase body armor at level 3. There was no name or purchase record to review. The FBI asked the person in the store if there were surveillance footage or a car description or license plate. There wasn't. After the shooting, shop employees realized that the man was Mateen, Abell said. The FBI had no official comment on the issue when they reached Thursday night. Speakers of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Martin County Sheriff's Office said the agencies have no record of receiving calls from Lotus Gunworks. ISIS, or personal conflict? Only WITNESS the Witness: We thought the shots were part of the music Replay More Videos ... MUST WITNESS the Witness: We thought the shots were part of the music 05:24 Despite swearing increasingly at ISIS, some say that Mateen was actually fueled by the struggle with his sexuality -- and may have been stuck on ISIS as a tool for his anger. Several regulars at the gay nightclub said that the gunman frequently visited in recent years. Cord Cedeno said Mateen saw him on Pulse and announced him on Grindr, a gay dating app. Cedeno said he wasn't interested in Mateen, but his friend was. Only watched Steve King: 'Gays were targeted in Orlando, and it matters' Replay More Videos ... MUST WITTING Steve King: 'Gays were targeted in Orlando, and it matters' 06:48 "One of my friends ... has been talking to him since 2007, on and off," on another gay dating app, Cedeno said. "(Mateen) sent him a picture of his private part, and my friend was actually attracted to him. He almost went and got it with him." FBI agents are interviewing people who claim to have met the gunman on gay dating apps, a police official said. These claims "certainly change perspective," the source said. The Orlando shooter was gay? Play more videos... MUST WATER WAS Orlando the shooter gay? 01:54 CNN military analyst Lieutenant General Mark Hertling said the gunman's complex background makes the investigation challenging. "I'm not a psychiatrist, but the struggle with his humanity, his sexuality, combined with the possibility of putting on an organization asking people to do this -- asks extremists to do such things -- is an interesting dynamic," he said. "And that's what makes the case so extremely difficult." Just WATCHED Ex-wife: I questioned his sexuality Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Ex-wife: I questioned his sexuality 02:01 The gunman's ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, said she was not sure of his sexuality. "It doesn't surprise me that he may be gay," she said. "And I'm not surprised that he lived two completely different lives and was in such a deep conflict within himself." But the gunman's father, Seddique Mateen, has said he didn't think his son was gay. He emphasized that Mateen had a wife and children. The victim's video Throughout Orlando, survivors mourned the dead and recalled their experiences. Miguel Leiva filmed mobile video while lying in a bathroom with about 16 other people, he told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday night. The video showed people passing a cup of water around. A man suffocated by his own blood, Leiva said. They whispered because they feared that the gunman, who twice came back and fired his weapon, would return. "I just remember you smelling the blood, there was so much blood," Leiva said. "All my clothes were full of blood. We sat down and it was a big pool of blood." Only five or six people survived alive, he said. Leiva was shot in the foot and leg. "So many innocent people just to have fun." As of 1996, Alexa Internet has donated its crawl data to the Internet Archive. This data flows in every day and is added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. The owner of a Florida gun store said he was trying to warn the FBI of a "very suspicious" man who was later identified as Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen after Mateen tried to buy body armor and bulk ammunition from the store. Interested in ? Add as an interest to keep up to date with the latest news, video and analysis from ABC News. Add interest Robert Abell, a partner in Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach, Florida, told ABC News today that a man entered the store five or six weeks ago and asked specific questions about high-end body armor. When the employees said that the store did not bring the body armor he wanted, Abell said that the man made a call in a foreign language, hung up and then asked about ammunition in bulk. Abell said one of his staff thought the questions were "odd" and made him uncomfortable, so he turned the man away. Abell added that they thought the man was "very suspicious", so they called the local FBI office in West Palm Beach and reported the incident. But they didn’t have the man’s name because no sales were made, and the only surveillance footage they had was grainy. "We gave them information and everything that took place, and that was the end of the conversation," he said. Abell said it was a conversation with agents, but the FBI never visited the store or further investigated. That was the end of it until he saw the news of the Orlando shooting that took place early Sunday morning and pictures of the man identified as the killer: Mateen, the man Abell said was in the store. "He slipped through the cracks," said Abell. He said his associates contacted the FBI after the shooting to remind them of their run-in with the suspected man. However, the store's surveillance tapes had long since been overwritten, he said. Public Affairs officials for the FBI's Miami field office, which oversees the West Palm Beach satellite office, and at headquarters in Washington, D.C., declined comments. Earlier this week the FBI faced sharp questions for investigating Mateen twice in 2013 and 2014 for alleged ties to extremists and establishing that he was not a threat. After reviewing these investigations, FBI chief James Comey said that on Monday he had not seen anything that his "agents should have done differently". Comey also emphasized the law enforcement motto "See something, say something". "Every single one of our cases, when we look back, someone always sees something they should have told us, and they didn't," he said. "So our request to you is please don't let them make you work into a state of anxiety that is disabling. Find ways to channel it into a healthy awareness of your surroundings and live your lives." Abell said he believed his team had "done [its] job" after contacting authorities. Mateen, aged 29, began his attack at a popular gay Orlando nightclub at around 2:00 a.m. Sunday. At some point that morning, he posted on Facebook his loyalty to ISIS, a demand that the United States and Russia "stop the bombing" the Syrian-based terrorist group and a warning about attacks coming, FBI officials said. "You kill innocent women and children by making us airstrices.. now taste the revenge of the Islamic state", Mateen posted, according to officials of the FBI counter-terrorism division. "In a few days you will see attacks from the Islamic state in the United States." He killed 49 people before being shot down by police. A bleak President Barack Obama met privately Thursday with wounded victims and families of the 49 people killed in the Pulse nightclub massacre, and told them, "our hearts are also broken." "Today, again, which has been true so many times before, I held and hugged grieving family members and parents," Obama told reporters after two hours of meeting at the Amway Center in central Orlando. “And they asked, ‘Why does this keep happening?’” After leaving the arena, the president’s motorcade drove to the nearby Dr Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, where a temporary memorial to the victims has been sprayed onto the lawn. There Obama and Vice President Joe Biden laid bouquets with 49 white roses. The two stood in silence for several moments and looked down on the hundreds of flowers, signs and tributes placed within a rainbow paper chain. Orlando residents recover after a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub. 49 victims died and 53 were injured. President Obama and Vice President Biden visited Orlando on Thursday in honor of the victims of the Pulse nightclub murders. “Four days ago this community was shaken by an evil, hateful act,” Obama said. — Today we are reminded of what is good — that there is compassion, empathy, decency, and above all there is love. It's Orlando we've seen the last few days and that's the America we've seen.''' The families, Obama said, had “crying beyond description.” “Through their pain and through tears, they told of the joy their loved ones had brought to their lives,” said Obama. — They spoke of their sons and daughters. So many young people in their 20s and 30s...A young woman who was only 18 years old.’ Obama also spoke of the mother who gave her life for her son, as did the former Navy “whose quick thinking saved hundreds of lives.” “These families could be our families,” Obama said. — In fact, they are our families. They're part of the American family. On behalf of the American people, our hearts are also broken. We stand with you. We're here for you. And we remember the people you loved so deeply.” He said that the United States must continue to be “relativeless” against ISIS and al-Qaeda terror networks. — We will destroy them, he said. But he pointed out that the last two terrorist attacks on the United States — Orlando and San Bernardino — were "homegrown". "These families could be our families. They're actually our families. They're part of the American family." — President Obama The attack was made by "a single killer with a powerful assault rifle," Obama said. “If we don’t act,” Obama said, “we’ll continue to see more massacres like this, because we’ll choose to let this happen. We will have said that we don't care enough to do anything about it." Obama also called the shootings an attack on the LGBT community, calling Pulse a "sanctuary ... violated in the worst possible way." Spectators were not allowed to attend the president's comments at the Dr Phillips Center, but crowds gather in parking lots across South Street, hoping to catch a glimpse of the president or snap a picture. “It’s good for everyone,” said Maria Herrera, who joined a crowd outside the church. "We feel safe because our president is here. We are very happy, because he will help the people who lost their relatives. Herrera, who moved to central Florida from Peru, held a couple of balloons and two signs: “Peruvians Against Terrorism,” said one, while the other proclaimed that “the church loves LGBT.” The president’s four-hour journey began when Air Force One arrived at Orlando International Airport at 12:45 Biden came separately at Air Force Two, also arriving at OIA. The president was welcomed on the asphalt by Gov. Rick Scott, late United States Marco Rubio, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs. The motorcade, escorted by dozens of police motorcycles, arrived in Amway at around 1:30 p.m., with the vehicles entering the building through huge bay doors. Christina Dangelo of Sanford watched the president arrive. “I came here to show support for the victims and their families and to show support for our country, and what is happening in Orlando,” she said, calling the president’s visit “very thoughtful of him.” Dangelo said Target, where she works, kept a moment of silence for the victims, two whom she said also worked for the retailer. “It’s been very difficult for everyone, but I feel the love and support, and everyone comes together... to support each other,” she said. Potus carcadege arrives at the Amway Arena to provide support for families/survivors of Pulse nightclub shooting Potus carcadege arrives at the Amway Arena to provide support for families/survivors of Pulse nightclub shooting SE MORE VIDEOS Outside the stadium, Democratic United States Sen. Bill Nelson, who flew from Washington with Biden, said Obama and Biden also met in the stadium with the Orlando officers involved in standoff at Pulse. Nelson said he agrees with the President that violence in Orlando must spur gun legislation. He wanted a vote on bills that would ban people on the terrorist watch list from buying firearms and warning the FBI when those who had previously been on the list buy guns. “At the end of the day, we must ban assault rifles,” Nelson said. “This guy [pulse gunman] had the equivalent of a soupd-up M-16 military rifle.” slimongello@orlandostinel.com • • While the U.S. lawyer in Orlando is still hard over-lipped as to whether he will ask a grand jury to investigate Omar Mateen’s widow or anyone else in connection with the deadly shooting at Pulse nightclub, veterans criminal lawyers say there is little doubt that he will. A grand jury is the only tool federal prosecutors have to investigate crimes to determine whether to prosecute those involved, they explained. Unlike state prosecutors, who have the authority to prosecute against bank, telephone, and social media and call witnesses to testify, federal prosecutors must go through a grand jury to build a case. “The street jury is the only vehicle the federal government has to collect information and force documents,” said West Palm Beach defense attorney Richard Lubin. And, lawyers said, despite widespread speculation about the role Noor Salman played in her husband's rampage that claimed 50 lives, including his own, they do not expect the investigation into the deadliest shooting in the nation's history to end quickly. “It’s just not a case you want to prosecute, unless you’re sure you can get a conviction,” West Palm Beach defense lawyer Jack Goldberger said. He said he knows Lee Bentley, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, for being a thorough prosecutor. + Drew Angerer A local defense lawyer who knows Lee Bentley, the American lawyer in Orlando, said not to expect a quick decision. “He’ll... Read more Drew Angerer × “He’ll move very consciously and take his time before you make any decisions,” Goldberger said. Both he and Lubin dispute notions that Bentley is investigating the 30-year-old Salman simply for failing to report his husband's plans to carry out the deadly attack, technically called the misprision of a crime, which is punished with a three-year prison period. Such charges are rarely filed and are generally difficult to prove. — Is she the principal? Lubin said of the question Bentley asks. Conflicting statements Salman allegedly gave law enforcement that have leaked to the press have been astoundingly incriminating, the lawyers said. If, as has been reported, she drove Mateen, 29, from their home in Fort Pierce to the nightclub on previous occasions, helped him scout elsewhere or was with him when he bought the guns, she could be charged as a co-conspirator. “Then she could be a helper and aide, and if she is, then she is as guilty as her husband was,” Goldberger said. Fort Lauderdale's defense attorney Bruce Zimet, a former federal prosecutor, said it is a timely rule that federal prosecutors seek prosecution for the highest crime found based on the evidence. In Salman's case, committing terrorism could be a conspiracy. Zimet said he was shocked by reports that she has made statements to FBI agents without having a lawyer present. While he and others said they expect her to refuse to testify before a grand jury, she cannot erase the past. “Any statement she has given to law enforcement can be used against her,” Zimet said. “That’s why it’s so crazy for her to talk from a technical and legal standpoint.” He said that there is an axiom among prosecutors that Salman was clearly unaware of: “The only way a fish can be caught is if the fish open its mouth.” But Lubin warned, there may be good reasons why she cooperates. “She may give them the names of others who do not cooperate,” he said. She, along with banking and telephone records and other documents, was able to help prosecutors determine whether Mateen was a ‘lon wolf' or whether he was directed by others. “There is no standard in this case,” he said. There is no evidence that Salman, who was raised in California and met her husband online, has been detained. Her father-in-law, Seddique Mateen, who has held impromptu news conferences with reporters camping outside his Port St. Lucie house, said Thursday that she is no longer in Florida. She was captured by a news team who left the couple's Fort Pierce home earlier this week wearing a white hoodie, but she gave no statement. The prosecutors said the FBI is watching her closely. If she makes any attempt to leave the country, she will undoubtedly be arrested, Goldberger said. Lubin said, however, that federal prosecutors want to avoid it because then the clock starts ticking. A charge must be filed 21 days after an arrest. If there is no charge, an interrogation would be held to allow a federal judge to determine whether there are likely reasons to keep her in connection with the attack. Prosecutors are trying to avoid getting a public response to a case that they are building up, Goldberger said. “They protect very, very zealously, whatever evidence they have accumulated,” he said. Furthermore, he said, if they haven't had time to collect bank accounts, phone calls and other documents they need, their cases may fall apart. That's why they convene large juries before making an arrest," Lubin said. — They need time to get their ducks in a row, he said. What is a shorter version of the above article?
- En missad chans? Även utan hans namn på en bevakningslista väckte Orlando revolvermannen Omar Mateen misstankar i minst en vapenaffär veckorna innan han slaktade 49 personer på nattklubben Pulse. Robert Abell, delägare i Lotus Gunworks i Jensen Beach, Fla., berättar för ABC att en man han nu vet var Mateen försökte köpa high-end kroppspansar av ett slag som vanligtvis används av polisen och 1000 skott av ammunition för fem eller sex veckor sedan. Han sa att Mateen ställde konstiga frågor och gjorde personalen obekväm, så de vände bort honom och informerade det lokala FBI-kontoret om den blivande kunden. Abell säger att det var ett uppföljande samtal med FBI, men agenter besökte aldrig butiken – och utan en försäljning hade butiken inget namn att ge till utredare. I annan täckning: Massacre överlevande Miguel Leiva har delat video från badrummet bås där han hukade i timmar med runt ett dussin andra människor, varav några redan hade blivit skjutna. Det ger en glimt av terrorn inne i klubben timmarna innan ett SWAT-team flyttade in. "Det var riktigt varmt där inne, lukten av blod och bara döda kroppar överallt", berättar Leiva för CBS. New York Times har intervjuer med flera överlevande, bland annat personer som drabbats av flera skottskador. Angel Colon har en skrämmande skildring av att försöka spela död när revolvermannen sköt sårade människor på golvet. Polisen säger till CNN att Mateen sms:ade sin fru timmar efter att attacken började, och frågade henne om hon hade sett nyheterna. Hon sa att hon älskade honom och försökte ringa flera gånger, säger källorna. Miami Herald rapporterar om en mystisk händelse från Mateens förflutna: Hans avskedande från ett jobb i ett statligt fängelse mitt igenom hans träning, tydligen över en incident som involverade allvarliga tjänstefel. Orlando Sentinel rapporterar om president Obamas besök i Orlando torsdag, där han träffade offrens släktingar i enrum. "I dag, återigen, som har varit sant så många gånger tidigare, höll jag och kramade sörjande familjemedlemmar och föräldrar", sade Obama till reportrar efteråt. "Och de frågade, 'Varför fortsätter detta att hända?" Palm Beach Post tittar på de möjliga anklagelserna mot Mateens fru Noor Salman och varför ett åtal kan ta lång tid. (Det fanns rörliga scener när JetBlue flygare insåg att en Orlando-bunden medpassagerare sörjde ett barnbarn som dödades i attacken.)
- A missed chance? Even without his name on a watch list, Orlando gunman Omar Mateen aroused suspicion in at least one gun deal the weeks before slaughtering 49 people at the Pulse nightclub. Robert Abell, a partner in Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach, Fla., tells ABC that a man he now knows where Mateen was trying to buy high-end body armor of a kind commonly used by police and 1000 shots of ammunition five or six weeks ago. He said Mateen asked strange questions and made the staff uncomfortable, so they turned him away and informed the local FBI office about the prospective customer. Abell says it was a follow-up conversation with the FBI, but agents never visited the store – and without a sale, the store had no name to give to investigators. In other coverage: Massacre survivor Miguel Leiva has shared video from the bathroom booth where he crouched for hours with around a dozen other people, some of whom had already been shot. It gives a glimpse of the terror inside the club the hours before a SWAT team moved in. "It was really hot in there, the smell of blood and just dead bodies everywhere," Leiva tells CBS. The New York Times has interviews with several survivors, including people suffering multiple gunshot wounds. Angel Colon has a frightening account of trying to play dead when the gunman shot wounded people on the floor. Police tell CNN that Mateen texted his wife hours after the attack began, asking her if she had seen the news. She said she loved him and tried to call several times, the sources say. The Miami Herald reports on a mysterious incident from Mateen's past: His dismissal from a job in a state prison midway through his training, apparently over an incident involving serious misconduct. Orlando Sentinel reports on President Obama's visit to Orlando Thursday, where he met with victims' relatives in private. "Today, again, which has been true so many times before, I held and hugged grieving family members and parents," Obama told reporters afterwards. "And they asked, 'Why does this keep happening?" The Palm Beach Post looks at the possible charges against Mateen's wife Noor Salman and why an indictment may take a long time. (There were moving scenes when JetBlue aviators realized that an Orlando-bound fellow passenger mourned a grandson killed in the attack.)