Massacre in Orlando

I woke up this morning to the news of the massacre at the Pulse Night Club in Orlando.  By the time I am writing, there are already 50 confirmed dead and many injured, making it the most destructive mass shooting in US history.

The identity of the shooter, who was killed by law enforcement at the end of a three hour hostage standoff, has already been released: Omar Mateen or Omar Saddiqui Mateen.  No one has yet stated officially that this crime is linked to international terrorism, but there is a great deal of speculation and “leaning” towards this as a motive already by the pundits.  Numerous sites have already gone to work in unearthing what we can know about the shooter through open source information.

I’ve been doing the same for the last hour or so.  I don’t have any particular feeling on the motive yet myself, but it does have the hallmarks reminiscent of the Bataclan attack, and the nature of the establishment is one that jihadists would certainly approve of punishing.  So in the absence of any better information, I will approach this attack as though it is linked to terrorism.  If I find out otherwise, I’ll remove this posting from my blog in the future.

Omar Mateen (aka Omar Saddiqui Mateen  or Omar Mir Seddique Mateen) was born November 16, 1986.  His parents are from Afghanistan, but it is not yet clear whether Omar was born there or here in the US.  From public records and using addresses, phone numbers, and ages, it appears that his father is named Seddique Mir Mateen and his mother is named Shahla Mateen.  He appears to have two sisters, Mariam (Mary) Seddique (married to Masood Khan) and Sabrina Seddique (married to Mustafa Abasin).  Based on the addresses and associated businesses it appears the family does well for itself.  In 2009, Omar is listed as applying for a marriage license with Sitora Alisherzoda Yusufiy.  It’s possible that the two are now divorced, as someone with Yusufiy’s exact name obtained a cosmetology license in the state of New York in 2014.  There is also someone named Noor Salman on a 2013 mortgage with Omar and Mariam.  This is Noor Zahi Salman, born 25 May 1986, possibly a second wife of Omar; voter registration records have her listed with Omar at the 2513 S 17^th St address with him at least since 2012.  According to CNN, Omar is from Fort Pierce and works as a private security guard.

There are a number of addresses associated with the family, but the three most prominent are:

• 519 SW Bayshore Blvd, Port Saint Lucie, FL 34983-1818
• 2513 S 17th St #107, Fort Pierce, FL 34982
• 490 NW Dover Ct, Port St Lucie, FL 34983

Others include:

• 937 SW Bayshore Blvd, Port Saint Lucie, FL 34983-1818
• 664 Stanford Ln, Port Saint Lucie, FL 34983
• 1305 W Midway Rd, Fort Pierce, FL 34982
• 1301 W Midway Rd, Fort Pierce, FL 34982

As I stated previously, the family seems to do well for itself.  Two of the addresses I discovered, the Dover Ct address and the Stanford Ln address, are located in the midst of a posh Port St. Lucie community associated with the Champion Turf Club at St. James.  The sister Mariam owns a salon in Fort Pierce and her sister Sabrina has an address a couple doors down.  That being said, I did look at these White City addresses, and they are by no means upscale.  They don’t even look like businesses, but just simple cottages.

The father is a very active man.  He previously served as a director of the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce Inc.  He is or was involved in other businesses, including something known as Wonderworks Production, LLC with Desiree Mufson; the Durand Jirga, Inc., in which his two daughters are also involved; and something only a few months old called The Provisional Government of Afghanistan, Corporation.  He is unquestionably involved in the politics of Afghanistan, having even announced his candidacy for the President of Afghanistan in May 2015 through his Durand Jirga Show on the Payam-e-Afghan network.

 

Much of this information is already starting to make its way out, but hopefully this helps journalists and investigators get to the bottom of the story as quickly as possible.