By Felicia Schwartz, Arian Campo-Flores and Ahmed Al Omran
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said the shooter who killed
49 people and injured 53 others at an Orlando gay nightclub
apparently was self-radicalized and "an example of homegrown
extremism."
The president noted the man police have identified as the
gunman, Omar S. Mateen, purchased a gun legally and was inspired by
extremist information disseminated over the internet. Mr. Mateen
pledged allegiance to Islamic State "at the last minute," Mr. Obama
said.
He added: "Countering this extremist ideology is increasingly
going to be just as important as making sure that we are disrupting
more extensive plots engineered from the outside."
Meanwhile, investigators have found that Mr. Mateen previously
visited Walt Disney World while searching for targets, according to
two officials briefed on the probe. They added they don't believe
he examined the amusement park in the hours immediately before the
nightclub shooting -- and would not say which Disney World property
was scouted.
In his Oval Office remarks, Mr. Obama also urged people
considering how to respond to the attacks to avoid an "either/or"
debate about terrorism or gun control and instead to consider
addressing both.
The rampage has divided the presidential campaign.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump
rejected any new effort to limit a U.S. citizen's access to
firearms and broadened his proposal to ban Muslim immigrants.
He said, "When I am elected, I will suspend immigration from
areas of the world where there is a proven history of terrorism
against the U.S., Europe or our allies, until we fully understand
how to end these threats."
His rival, Hillary Clinton, called for more gun control,
including an assault-weapons ban, and denounced "inflammatory
anti-Muslim rhetoric."
James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
said that while the shooter's specific motives remain murky, "There
are strong indications of radicalization by this killer and a
potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations."
Mr. Comey said agents are also looking into antigay bigotry as a
motive.
The FBI director added he did not believe agents should have
done something differently in two previous investigations of Mr.
Mateen, during which the agency looked for possible links to
terrorism. The probes were closed after interviews with him proved
inconclusive, FBI officials said.
Earlier Monday, Saudi Arabian officials said the gunman had
visited the kingdom twice on pilgrimages -- in 2011 and 2012.
U.S. and Saudi officials aren't sure yet who Mr. Mateen met with
there during his visits or whether the trips were connected to the
shooting.
Meanwhile, A. Lee Bentley III, U.S. Attorney for the Middle
District of Florida, said that authorities were getting search
warrants and court orders to investigate other people who may have
been involved in the shooting rampage. He added he didn't believe
the public was in danger.
"We do not know yet whether anyone else will be charged in
connection with this crime," he said.
While the number of victims killed in the Sunday morning
shooting spree had previously been given as 50, Paul Wysopal of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation clarified that the total was 49
during a news conference in Orlando Monday. Police said officers
shot and killed the Mr. Mateen at about 5 a.m. Sunday.
Many of the survivors wounded in the rampage continued to
undergo treatment at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Among the
many family members there Sunday night were those of Cory Connell,
21, who is missing and possibly -- the family hoped -- among the
injured.
Mr. Connell's girlfriend, Paula Blanco, was shot in the arm and
is being treated at the hospital, said Megan Nolan, the fiancée of
Mr. Connell's brother Ryan. Ms. Blanco asks where Mr. Connell is,
Ms. Nolan said. "We have to keep telling her, unfortunately, 'we
don't know,'" she said.
One of the victims was Enrique Rios, a 25-year-old New Yorker
and nursing student who was in Orlando on vacation, according to
his aunt, Nancy Castillo of St. Petersburg, Fla.
"I'm devastated, and I'm more devastated for my sister," said
Ms. Castillo by phone, after visiting an Orlando senior center
serving as a gathering place for victims' families. "I can't
comprehend the 'why.' Why would you come here and destroy the lives
of innocent people? And I'm very angry about that also, because
something has to be done with these terrorists."
Mr. Mateen's father, Seddique Mateen, said Monday that he was
"terrifically saddened" by the attack and didn't know his son's
motive.
A woman who said she is the ex-wife of Mr. Mateen described him
as an "unbalanced" person who was abusive during their marriage.
She told CNN that she saw no sign that he had terrorist
leanings.
Still, Islamic State on Monday praised the man who carried out
the deadliest shooting attack in U.S. history, calling him "one of
the soldiers of the Caliphate in America."
During Monday's news conference in Orlando, officials vowed not
to be cowed by the violence. "We will not be defined by the act of
a cowardly hater," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. "We will be
defined by how we respond, how we treat each other, and this
community has already stepped up to do that."
Pervaiz Shallwani, Devlin Barrett, Kate O'Keeffe, Adam Entous,
Cameron McWhirter, Jennifer Levitz, Valerie Bauerlein, Scott
Calvert, Tripp Mickle and Ehsanullah Amiri contributed to this
article.
Write to Felicia Schwartz at Felicia.Schwartz@wsj.com, Arian
Campo-Flores at arian.campo-flores@wsj.com and Ahmed Al Omran at
Ahmed.AlOmran@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 13, 2016 16:57 ET (20:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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