Comment: Eyewitness Javer Antonetti, 53, was at the club with his brother. He said he was near the back of the club when he heard shots ring out:
"There were so many, at least 40 [shots]. I saw two guys and it was constant, like 'pow, pow, pow'."Another eyewitness said:
"There had to have been more than one shooter - the shooting was so constant, it sounded like a gun range."
Omar Mateen of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, came to the attention of federal authorities twice prior to being identified as the gunman in the Orlando nightclub mass shooting, a senior law enforcement source told The Daily Beast.
Mateen killed 53 people and shot more than 100 in total at the Pulse gay nightclub early Sunday morning, in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
The senior law enforcement source reports that Mateen became a person of interest in 2013 and again in 2014. The Federal Bureau of Investigation at one point opened an investigation into Mateen but subsequently closed the case when it produced nothing that appeared to warrant further investigation.
"He's a known quantity," the source said. "He's been on the radar before."
Mateen was a U.S. citizen; his parents are from Afghanistan, CBS News reports.
Comment: Mass shootings like this often follow a formula:
- initial eyewitness reports indicate multiple assailants while the media and authorities then claim that the shooter was a "lone shooter"
- the "lone shooter" was either known to or had directly worked with some faction of the US government, frequently the FBI
- the "lone shooter" is immediately labeled as guilty despite no investigation taking place and conflicting initial reports
- the "lone shooter" is immediately identified as an ISIS terrorist/sympathizer (in this case, because he allegedly called the police to tell them so prior to carrying out his deed)
- and the "lone shooter" typically ends up dead and therefore unable to provide any testimony in his defense
This story is still developing so things could change, but thus far it does appear to be following this formula. For more information:- Boston Bombings 'set-up': Mother of patsies says sons groomed by FBI
- 'Why did FBI execute my boy?' Father of Boston Bombing patsy's friend displays grisly photos of son's corpse showing unarmed man was shot seven times
- That old black magic: FBI tracked Chattanooga shooter's family for years
- Eyewitness to San Bernardino terror attack: 'Three tall white men did it'
- SOTT Exclusive: Bearded Middle East Jihadis or clean-shaven white professional hit-men? A few questions about the Paris attacks
Undoubtedly, Americans will be further divided after this tragedy.