Orlando shooting: How gunman Omar Mateen was linked to first American suicide bomber in Syria

The gunman who massacred 49 people at a gay club in Florida was partly “inspired” by the first American suicide bomber in Syria, it has emerged.

Omar Mateen had what the FBI described as a “casual” connection with Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha and attended the same mosque.

Investigators questioned Mateen over the link in 2014 but found no “ties of any consequence” and dropped the probe.

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But Abu-Salha’s name came up again in the early hours of Sunday morning, as his former acquaintance expressed admiration for other terrorists in a 911 call as he carried out his massacre.

James Comey, the director of the FBI, said that over three separate calls from the Pulse nightclub he pledged allegiance to the leader of the so-called Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“But he also appeared to claim solidarity with the perpetrators of the Boston Marathon bombing, and solidarity with a Florida man who died as a suicide bomber in Syria for al-Nusra Front, a group in conflict with Islamic State,” he continued.

“The bombers at the Boston Marathon and the suicide bomber from Florida were not inspired by Isil (Isis), which adds a little bit to the confusion about his motives.”

Jabhat al-Nusra was founded as the Syrian branch of Isis – then al-Qaeda’s “Islamic State of Iraq” – but the two factions split in February 2014 following a power struggle.

Isis went on to declare independence under al-Baghdadi’s leadership, while Jabhat al-Nusra retained its loyalty to al-Qaeda, starting a bloody rivalry between the two extremist groups.

Abu-Salha, a Palestinian-American, left Florida to move to Jordan in 2012 and then disappeared, with friends assuming he was recruited to fight in the Syrian civil war.

Jabhat al-Nusra hailed the 22-year-old as the first US citizen to carry out a “martyrdom operation” in May 2014, driving a vehicle bomb into a checkpoint held by government forces in Ariha, Idlib province.

Under the war name of Abu Hurayra al-Amriki, he was seen in a propaganda video tearing, biting, and burning his American passport.

The extent of his link to Mateen remains unclear but the would-be gunman’s name flagged in the FBI’s investigation in the months after his death.

“We learned from the investigation that the killer knew him casually from attending the same mosque in that area of Florida (Fort Pierce),” Mr Comey said.

“Our investigation turned up no ties of any consequence between the two of them… we interviewed the killer to find out whether he had any significant contacts with the suicide bomber from Nusra, determined that he did not, and then the inquiry continued focusing on the suicide bomber with no further focus on the Orlando killer.”

One witness also told investigators that Mateen had been watching videos by Anwar al-Awlaki, an extremist preacher and al-Qaeda recruiter who was killed by the US in a drone strike in 2011.

“The witness had concluded that he later got married, and had a child, and got a job as a security guard, and so he was no longer concerned about him,” Mr Comey said.

“We’re working hard to understand the killer, and his motives, and his sources of inspiration, but we are highly confident that this killer was radicalised, and at least, in some part, through the internet.”

Mateen was also investigated for 10 months after colleagues raised alarm about “inflammatory” statements and his expression of the desire to be “martyred”, as well as claims of connections to al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, in May 2013.

The FBI said that although Mateen was put under surveillance, interviewed by undercover informants, followed and had his communications and spending monitored, as well as being interviewed twice, the investigation was closed.

Mr Comey said he admitted making the statements reported by his co-workers where he worked as a security guard, but claimed “he thought his co-workers were discriminating against him and teasing him because he was Muslim”.

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Mateen burst into the Pulse nightclub in Orlando carrying an assault rifle and handgun, reportedly laughing as he opened fire before taking hostages in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The 29-year-old was shot dead in a gun battle with police who stormed the premises following a three-hour stand-off.

At least 49 people were killed and 53 injured in the attack, which was the worst mass shooting in US history and the deadliest terror attack on American soil since 9/11.

US Attorney Lee Bentley said: “We do not know yet whether anyone else will be charged in connection with this crime, but have no reason to believe that anyone connected to this crime is placing the public in imminent danger.”

Isis claimed responsibility for the shooting, calling the gunman “a soldier of the Caliphate”, but there was no indication that the terrorist group had contact with the gunman or directed the atrocity.

“It does appear that at the last minute he announced allegiance to Isil (Isis) but there is no evidence so far that he was in fact directed by Isil or that it was part of a larger plot,” Barack Obama said.

There have been conflicting reports of possible motivations for his attack, with his former wife saying he was mentally ill and his father telling media he had been angered by seeing two men kiss, while acquaintances claim Mateen was himself gay but felt unable to be open about his sexuality.