Gunman Called 911 During Nightclub Massacre To Pledge Allegiance to ISIS
ORLANDO Fla. (CBS/AP) -- A law enforcement official confirmed to CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton that Orlando nightclub shooting suspect Omar Mateen called 911 and declared his allegiance to ISIS. He identified himself to the 911 operator giving his full name, according to the source. Mateen also mentioned the Tsarnaev brothers, the men who ignited explosives at the 2013 Boston Marathon.
CBS was also informed that Mateen made the Hajj, an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia in March 2012.
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A law enforcement official told the Associated Press that Mateen was known to the FBI before the incident and had been looked at by agents within the last few years. The official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The official says the matter for which Mateen came under investigation was "open and closed pretty quickly."
Danny Banks is an agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Banks says authorities are investigating whether the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history was an act of domestic or international terrorism and if the shooter acted alone.
Staff at the Islamic Center, a mosque in Ft. Pierce, Florida, confirmed to CBS News that Mateen has worshiped at the facility regularly for several years.
President Barack Obama said at a press conference Sunday that the shooting was an "act of terror" and an "act of hate."
He said the FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism and that no effort will be spared to determine whether the shooter was affiliated with terrorist groups.
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