FBI says extremist homegrown

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The gunman whose attack on a nightclub left 49 people dead appears to have been a "homegrown extremist" who espoused support for a jumble of often-conflicting Islamic radical groups, the White House and the FBI said Monday.

As Orlando mourned its dead with flowers, candles and vigils, counterterrorism investigators dug into the background of 29-year-old Omar Mateen for clues as to why the American-born Muslim carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

"So far, we see no indication that this was a plot directed from outside the United States, and we see no indication that he was part of any kind of network," FBI Director James Comey said. But he said Mateen was clearly "radicalized," at least in part via the Internet.

Comey said the bureau is also trying to determine whether Mateen had recently scouted Disney World as a potential target, as reported by People.com, which cited an unidentified federal law enforcement source.

"We're still working through that," Comey said.

The FBI chief defended the bureau's handling of Mateen during two previous investigations into his apparent terrorist sympathies. As for whether there was anything the FBI should have done differently, "so far the honest answer is 'I don't think so,'" Comey said.

Using an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle and a handgun, Mateen opened fire at Pulse, an Orlando nightclub popular with gays, early Sunday in three hours of gunfire and hostage holding that ended with a SWAT team killing him. During the attack, he called 911 to profess allegiance to the Islamic State militant group.

At the White House, President Barack Obama said there is no clear evidence so far that Mateen was directed by the group, calling the attack an apparent example of "homegrown extremism." Obama is traveling to Orlando on Thursday to pay his respects to the victims and stand in solidarity with the community, the White House said Monday evening.

More details of the bloodbath emerged, with Orlando Police Chief John Mina saying Mateen was "cool and calm" during phone calls with police negotiators. But the chief said he decided to send the SWAT team in and bash through a wall after Mateen holed up with hostages in a restroom and began to talk about bombs and an explosive vest.

"We knew there would be an imminent loss of life," Mina said. As it turned out, Mateen had no explosives with him.

Five of the wounded were reported in grave condition, meaning the death toll could rise. A call went out for blood donations.

Authorities said they were continuing to explore whether other people may be connected to the case, and the investigation into Mateen has expanded to look at other people and stretches from Florida to Kabul, Afghanistan. Investigators also said Monday that they had found a third gun in Mateen's car and were working to trace its origins after learning that the two weapons he had during the shooting were purchased legally.

Tampa, Fla.-based FBI Special Agent in Charge Paul Wysopal said "hundreds" of leads were being pursued.

Officials said they were making significant progress in another area -- identifying and notifying victims. Police said 49 people were killed in the shooting, not including Mateen, who had been included in the toll released Sunday, and that they had determined the identities of 48 of the victims.

They had notified relatives of half of the victims by Monday morning, leaving many others still waiting for word on whether their loved ones were among the injured or dead.

All the bodies were removed from the club by 11 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

In Orlando, mourners piled bouquets around a makeshift memorial, and people broke down in tears and held their hands to their faces while passing through the growing collection of flowers, candles and signs about a mile from the site of the massacre.

"We will not be defined by the act of a cowardly hater," vowed Mayor Buddy Dyer, whose city of a quarter-million people is known internationally as the home of Walt Disney World and other theme parks.

The tragedy hit the city's gay and Hispanic communities especially hard. It was Latino Night at the club when the attack occurred.

"As the names come out, they are overwhelmingly Latino and Hispanic names," said Christina Hernandez, a Hispanic activist. "These were not just victims of the [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community, but of the Hispanic community, as well. This was senseless bloodshed."

Monday night, thousands attended a two-hour vigil on the lawn of the plaza at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts near City Hall.

"This is my therapy for the day," said Jimbo Wood, 27, who said he lost several friends in the shooting and went to the vigil to distribute white candles to the crowd. "I didn't want to just sit at home and mope. To have busy hands has helped."

Others passed out water. Some carried flowers. A group of gay men in nun's habits from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence -- the charity that grew out of the AIDS epidemic -- came to reunite and bring comfort.

"We have hugs for those who need it," one said.

On, off watch list

Though Mateen pledged fealty to the Islamic State, Comey said Mateen's grasp of the differences between Islamic extremist groups to which he claimed allegiance appeared shaky.

During three calls with 911 dispatchers, Mateen not only professed allegiance to the Islamic State but also expressed solidarity with a suicide bomber from the Syrian rebel group Nusra Front, and a few years ago he claimed connections to Hezbollah, too, both Islamic State enemies, Comey said.

The FBI became aware of Mateen in 2013 when co-workers reported that the private security guard claimed to have family connections to al-Qaida and to be a member of Hezbollah, Comey said. He was also quoted as saying he hoped that law enforcement would raid his apartment and assault his wife and child so that he could martyr himself.

The FBI began a 10-month preliminary investigation, following Mateen, reviewing his communications and questioning him, the FBI chief said. Mateen claimed he made the remarks in anger because co-workers were teasing him and discriminating against him as a Muslim, and the FBI eventually closed the case, Comey said.

His name surfaced again as part of another investigation into the Nusra Front bomber. The FBI found Mateen and the man had attended the same mosque and knew each other casually, but the investigation turned up "no ties of any consequence," Comey said.

Mateen was added to a terror watch list in 2013 when he was investigated but was taken off it soon after the matter was closed, Comey said. People who are in that database are not automatically barred from buying guns, and in any case Mateen purchased his weapons in June, long after he was removed from the list.

The groups to which Mateen proclaimed ties -- the Islamic State, al-Qaida and Hezbollah -- are not allies.

Islamic State and al-Qaida both derive their theology from an extreme view of Sunni Islamism, but in practical terms the pair split in 2014, with the more established al-Qaida publicly disavowing the actions of the more extreme Islamic State. Nusra Front, al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria, often fights the Islamic State in the Syrian conflict.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, is a Shiite Islamist group with a Lebanese base. In Syria, it supports the government under President Bashar Assad, meaning it fights both the Islamic State and al-Qaida.

Comey said that Mateen may have not understood the distinctions among the groups. Relatives have given mixed reports about the level of Mateen's religiosity, with some suggesting he preferred working out to studying religion.

He attended the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, Fla., though he is said to have rarely spoken. His father has filmed videos that appeared to offer support for the Taliban, a fundamentalist movement that also opposes the Islamic State, though his messages also were sometimes incoherent.

Although the FBI turned its focus from Mateen twice since 2013, Shawn Henry, a former FBI executive assistant director, stressed in an interview that law enforcement agencies follow hundreds of people and there are thousands on their radar.

"The complexity of trying to navigate our laws and Constitution while trying to maintain optimal security is a really difficult challenge," he said. "You just cannot protect against everything."

Mateen's father, Seddique Mir Mateen, told reporters that the massacre was "the act of a terrorist," and added, "I apologize for what my son did. I am as sad and mad as you guys are."

He wouldn't go into details about any religious or political views his son held, saying he didn't know. Asked whether he missed his son, he said, "I don't miss anything about him. What he did was against humanity."

The bloodshed started Sunday after Mateen approached the club about 2 a.m., exchanged fire with an off-duty officer working security, and then went inside and started gunning people down, police said.

After two other officers arrived and exchanged gunfire with Mateen, the gunman holed up in a restroom with about five clubgoers. An additional 15 to 20 were in another nearby restroom, authorities said.

Hostage negotiators began talking to Mateen.

After Mateen began to talk about explosives, Mina made the decision about 5 a.m. to blow open a wall to the restroom. The explosives didn't penetrate the wall completely, so an armored vehicle was used to punch a 2-by-3-foot hole. Dozens of people escaped, and Mateen was gunned down as he emerged through the hole, police said.

Information for this article was contributed by Jason Dearen, Terrance Harris, Eric Tucker, Mike Schneider, Tamara Lush, Chris O'Meara and Alan Diaz of The Associated Press; by Adam Taylor, Matt Zapotsky, Brian Murphy, Mark Berman, Missy Ryan, Adam Goldman, Jerry Markon, Katie Zezima, Hayley Tsukayama, Amanda Elder, Peter Holley, Souad Mekhennet, Ariana Eunjung Cha, Greg Miller, Joby Warrick, Tim Craig, Sarah Larimer, Julie Tate, Ellen Nakashima and Thomas Gibbons-Neff of The Washington Post; by Chris Strohm and Mike Dorning of Bloomberg News; by Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Jenny Jarvie and Del Quentin Wilber of the Los Angeles Times; and by Annie Martin and Kate Santich of the Orlando Sentinel.

A Section on 06/14/2016