Witness: Fla. gunman attacked to get US 'to stop bombing his country'

By Katie Zezima, Matt Zapotosky, Adam Goldman and Mark Berman 

The Washington Post

ORLANDO — The gunman who opened fire inside a nightclub here said he carried out the attack because he wanted "Americans to stop bombing his country," according to a witness who survived the rampage.

This account from Patience Carter, a 20-year-old who was inside the club during a three-hour hostage standoff, offers the first glimpse at what the shooter said spurred him to carry out the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Carter said the gunman made his claims about his motivation during the same 911 call in which he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

At one point, while about two dozen hostages were in the bathrooms inside Pulse, Carter said the gunman asked if there were any black people in the room. When one man said yes, the shooter said, "You know I don't have a problem with black people," Carter recalled during a news conference. "This is about my country," Mateen said. "You guys suffered enough."

These comments further add to the uncertainty regarding what may have inspired the gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, who was born in the United States to parents from Afghanistan. At various points, Mateen invoked opposing militant groups, making "inflammatory and contradictory" comments, said FBI Director James Comey.

Even as investigators continued Tuesday to delve deeper into Mateen's life, officials have not publicly said what they believe may have motivated him to open fire inside Pulse.

The bloody siege left 49 people killed and more than 50 others injured. Mateen died in a shootout with police after the hostage situation. The FBI has said it is still trying to uncover what inspired him. President Obama said Tuesday that the gunman "was an angry, disturbed, unstable young man who became radicalized."

The FBI has said it was exploring whether anti-gay bigotry prompted the attack on the popular gay nightclub. Adding another dimension to the probe, at least two witnesses at Pulse said Mateen had previously visited the gay nightclub. They also said they had seen him on Jack'd, a dating app for men.

During his comments in the bathroom, Mateen also claimed to have "snipers outside" the club. The Orlando Police Department said that despite rumors of multiple shooters, which often emerge after mass killings, Mateen was the only gunman at the club.

"It sounded as if he was communicating with other people who were involved with it. ... Maybe he was just deranged, maybe he's just talking to himself, but I honestly feel like I don't think he was able to pull that off all by himself," Carter said.

Investigators from the FBI peered deeper Tuesday into the life of the Orlando nightclub gunman, even as the bureau faced questions and an internal reckoning over whether it missed warning signs during a 10-month probe of the shooter that ended two years before the massacre. During that investigation, the gunman had been placed on a terrorism watch list.

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Brian Murphy, David Nakamura and Missy Ryan in Washington, Zachary Fagenson in Port St. Lucie and James McAuley in Paris contributed to this report.

http://www.stripes.com/news/us/witness-fla-gunman-attacked-to-get-us-to-stop-bombing-his-country-1.414615