Orlando Pulse shooter was not gay and had never used Grindr, investigators confirm
Mateen reportedly searched for 'downtown Orlando nightclubs' an hour before the attack.
Investigators have confirmed that Orlando Pulse shooter Omar Mateen was not gay.
Many people had believed that Mateen, who killed 49 people after opening fire at the gay nightclub in June 2016, was gay.
It was thought that Mateen was motivated by his hatred of his own homosexuality, but investigators have confirmed there was no evidence suggesting the killer was gay, GayStarNews reports.
Investigators found no evidence that he had used gay dating app Grindr but found that he had searched about ISIS daily and looked at porn involving older women. In addition, Mateen had never visited Pulse, and his original target had been the Disney Springs shopping and entertainment complex.
Due to tight security at the site, Mateen googled “downtown Orlando nightclubs” an hour before the attack and chose Pulse. According to investigators, he didn’t include the words “gay” or “LGBT” in the search.
A Pulse security guard said that Mateen had asked where all the women were at the club minutes before he carried out the attack.
He was killed during the massacre.
Meanwhile, Mateen’s wife Noor Salman was found not guilty of aiding and abetting the gunman.