Orlando suspect may have visited club several times before attack

ORLANDO, Fla., June 13 (UPI) -- The suspect in the Orlando shootings may have visited the Pulse nightclub several times in the weeks before the rampage, multiple eyewitnesses recalled Monday.

The witnesses said the accused gunman, Omar Seddique Mateen, appeared familiar to them and one estimated he'd seen the suspect inside Pulse at least a dozen times prior to Sunday's massacre.

"Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent," witness Ty Smith told the Orlando Sentinel.

Smith also said he remembered the man talking about his father, his wife and child.

Authorities, though, could not immediately confirm that Mateen had visited the club previously.

Police revealed more details of the attack Monday -- including the facts that Mateen had apparently told law enforcement officers at the club that he was wearing a suicide bomb vest, and that Orlando police had an officer in the club before the shooting started.

"We had an extra duty, off-duty officer working for Pulse nightclub in full police uniform. At about 2 a.m. he responded to some shots fired. He did engage in a gun-battle with the suspect somewhere near one of the entrances," Orlando Police Chief John Mina said at a news conference Monday. "Shortly after that, additional officers responded. Those additional officers made entry while the suspect was shooting; engaged in another gun-battle with the suspect; forced him to stop shooting and retreat to the bathroom, where we believed he had several hostages."

A SWAT team was called in and authorities planned to execute an explosive breach through a bathroom wall to rescue the hostages.

"Based on statements made by the suspect about explosives, about possible bomb vests -- we believed loss of life was imminent. I made the decision to commence the rescue operation and do the explosive breach," Mina said.

Mina said law enforcement officials were able to rescue dozens of people during the operation, but the explosive did not penetrate the wall. Instead, authorities used a BearCat armored vehicle to "punch a hole" 2- to 3-feet wide, which allowed dozens of club-goers to escape -- including the suspect.

"The suspect came out of that hole himself, armed with a handgun and a long-rifle -- engaged in a gunbattle with officers where he was ultimately killed," Mina said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Mateen used a ".223 caliber AR-type rifle and a 9mm semiautomatic pistol."

The massacre is the most deadly mass shooting in U.S. history and the worst terrorism attack on U.S. soil since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Forty-nine victims plus the shooter died in the attack and another 53 were injured and taken to area hospitals.

Orlando health officials said late Monday that the prognosis for the wounded victims is positive.

At this time, all patients currently have a positive prognosis and appear to be improving.

— Orlando Health (@orlandohealth) June 13, 2016

Mateen, 29, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State during a 911 phone call as the onslaught unfolded. The suspect's father later told reporters that his son's attack was not motivated by religion, but by homophobia.

On Monday, authorities carried out raids on Mateen's Orlando apartment and on his parent's house in Fort Pierce.

Becky Diefendorf, a former Port St. Lucie Walgreen's co-worker of Shahla Mateen, the accused gunman's mother, told WLRN that he only saw her son when he visited his mother at the store.

"He was very stand-backish, wouldn't talk much. And she would never talk about him. Always about her daughters but never about him. If you'd ask her, 'How's your son doing?' she'd never want to talk about him," Diefendorf said. "So, I mean, you could always tell there was something there, like they knew something."

Diefendorf also said the Mateen family was "very defensive about their religion."

"She would never talk about her religion, and if I ever asked her about it she would act like she thought I was being racist or something," Diefendorf said.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said the shooting is the worst event to have ever occurred in the city.

"Yesterday was the most horrific day in the history of the city of Orlando," Dyer said in a statement. "And yet, I stand here today even more proud of our community because they came together, united to support the families and friends of the victims. I cannot imagine being one of the parents or being one of the loved ones who learned your love was deceased."

By late Monday afternoon, a crowdfunding account for the victims of the attack had raised nearly $2.5 million in a little more than a day's time.

"This organization offers support to communities affected by mass casualty events in the form of the National Compassion Fund, and ensure that every penny donated will be correctly and quickly dispersed to the victims and families," the funding page states.