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WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama on Monday said there is "no clear evidence" the accused Orlando nightclub gunman was directed by the Islamic State or was part of a larger plot, though federal investigators said they are investigating the possibility of others being involved. Obama said the mass shooting was a "devastating attack on all Americans."
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"Our hearts go out to the families of those who have been killed. Our prayers go to those who have been wounded," he said during a White House briefing. "The fact that it took place at a club frequented by the LGBT community I think is something that is relevant ... It's a reminder that regardless of race, religion, faith or sexual orientation -- we're all Americans, and we need to be looking after each other and protecting each other at all times in the face of this kind of terrible act."
Police said 49 people were killed Sunday when Omar Seddique Mateen opened fire at Orlando's Pulse nightclub.
Police reported Sunday that prior to the shooting, Mateen called 911 and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State militant group -- also identified as Daesh, ISIS and ISIL.
But Obama said it doesn't appear as though Mateen was directly involved with the group.
"We see no clear evidence that he was directed externally. It does appear that at the last minute he announced allegiance to ISIL but there is no evidence so far that he was in fact directed. Also at this stage there is no direct evidence he was part of a larger plot," Obama said, likening the Orlando massacre to the Dec. 2 San Bernandino, Calif., attack in which 14 people were killed and 22 injured.
"It also appears that he was also able to obtain these weapons legally because he did not have a criminal record that in some ways would prohibit him from purchasing these weapons. It appears that one of those weapons he was able to just carry out of a store," Obama said, identifying the weapon as an assault rifle.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Mateen used a ".223 caliber AR-type rifle and a 9mm semiautomatic pistol." A third weapon found in Mateen's vehicle is being traced, officials said.
Obama said the gunman had to wait for three days to get a handgun under Florida law.
"It does indicate the degree to which it was not difficult for him to obtain these kinds of weapons," Obama added.
Obama made the remarks Monday afternoon following a briefing with the national security team, including FBI Director James Comey and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
The White House announced Obama would travel to Orlando on Thursday to "stand in solidarity with the community as they embark on their recovery." Press Secretary Josh Earnest provided no further details on the trip.
The president said the attack was "particularly painful for the people of Orlando, but I think we all recognize that this could have happened anywhere in this country," Obama said. "And we feel enormous solidarity and grief on behalf of the families that have been affected."
After Obama spoke, Comey told reporters there were strong indications Mateen was radicalized and was potentially inspired by foreign terrorist groups.
"We are spending a tremendous amount of time, as you would image, trying to understand every moment of this killer's path to that terrible night in Orlando to understand his motives and to understand the details of his life," Comey said.
He said authorities are looking through Mateen's electronics to understand his "path to radicalization" and to see if anyone else was involved.
The bureau is also scouring the devices to determine whether he may have considered targeting nearby Disney World, Fox News reported.
Comey said the shooter communicated three times with 911 emergency dispatch. In the first call, he said nothing and hung up. He then called back and spoke briefly before hanging up. The dispatcher called him back and they spoke briefly once again.
During those calls, the gunman said he carried out the attack for Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and pledged allegiance to the militant Islamist organization. The gunman also said he pledged solidarity to the Tsarnaev brothers who carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and to an American who carried out a bombing in Syria for the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaida affiliate -- who Comey said the gunman knew as they attended the same mosque.
Comey also said that authorities were investigating what role "anti-gay bigotry" may have had in the attack.
"We are highly confident this killer was radicalized at least in some part through the Internet," the FBI chief added.
The bureau first became aware of Mateen in May 2013 while he was working as a contract security guard in a courthouse. His co-workers reported him after he made "inflammatory" and "contradictory" statements.
Co-workers reported that Mateen said he had family connections to al-Qaida and that he was a member of the Hezbollah group, which is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, Comey said. The co-workers also said Mateen said he wished police would raid his home and assault his wife and child "so he could martyr himself."
The FBI's investigation led to two interviews with Mateen, in which he admitted he made the statements out of anger because he was being teased and discriminated against because he was Muslim.
Mateen was placed on a federal watch list at the start of the FBI's investigation and removed once it concluded a year later. Federal authorities would have been alerted had Mateen attempted to buy the firearms while he was on the watch list.
Also, the Saudi Arabian government said Monday that Mateen had traveled there twice, in 2011 and 2012, as part of a Muslim pilgrimage -- spending a little more than a week on each occasion, The New York Times reported.
"Our work is very challenging. We are looking for needles in a nationwide haystack but we're also called upon to figure out which pieces of hay might someday become needles," Comey said. "We know that this killing is upsetting to all Americans. We hope that our fellow Americans will not let fear become disabling, because that is what these savages want. We hope that instead you will channel this sense of anxiety into something more positive."
U.S. Attorney Lee Bentley III said that although the investigation into the attack is still "in the early stages," that there "is an investigation of other persons."
"We're working as diligently as we can on that. We have teams of prosecutors, as well as teams of agents working around the clock, getting search warrants, getting court orders. If anyone else was involved in this crime, they will be prosecuted," Bentley said.
