Orlando Gunman Claimed Ties To The Islamic State

A man who claimed to be connected to the Islamic State took the lives of 49 people and wounded 53 more when he opened fire inside a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, early Sunday morning. This massacre has been dubbed the worst mass shooting in American history. Here's what we know so far:

In a report by the Orlando Sentinel, there were at least four regular customers of the nightclub said that it's not the first time they had seen Omar Mateen there. "Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent," Ty Smith said.

More information about the 29-year-old gunman surfaced on Monday and described what he did days before leading up to the deadliest shooting in the history of the United States. According to a Disney manager, who requested that his identity be kept a secret, Mateen was at Walt Disney World in April. FBI Director James Comey said his agency was trying to verify that report and the possibility that Mateen was scouting the amusement park as a potential target, the Associated Press reported.

Mateen, an American citizen, whose parents were from Afghanistan, was killed in a shootout with the police who stormed Orlando's Pulse club with armored cars after a three-hour siege. Law enforcement officials said that the gunman claimed allegiance to the Islamic State in a 911 call he made during the attack.

"So far, we see no indication that this was a plot directed from outside the United States and we see no indication that he was part of any kind of network," Comey said in Washington. "We're highly confident this killer was radicalized at least in some part through the internet." Reuters reported that Mateen was investigated by the FBI for 10 months in 2013 but found no evidence of a crime or any apparent connection with a militant group.

The attack targeted Pulse Orlando, a popular gay nightclub that had been throwing a Latin Night dance party. In a report for NPR, Eileen Holliday described the club as "a longtime staple in the gay community" that drew a wide-ranging audience.

President Obama said, "It appears that the shooter was inspired by various extremist information" online; he added that "all those materials" are now being scrutinized and "exploited." He said all these after being briefed on the case Monday. The President also discussed the case in the oval office after being briefed by FBI Director James Comey about what they know about the shooter.

He added that investigators saw no signs that Mateen was directed by ISIS, noting that the gunman pledged allegiance to the group at a late juncture. The attack was compared to the one that hit San Bernardino, California, last December, which Obama called "homegrown extremism."

Friends and loved one of those who were at Pulse nightclub have spent the last 24 hours trying to find out if their loved ones survived. They gathered in the street near the scene of the shooting. According to authorities, as of Monday morning, 48 of the 49 victims had been identified, and that 24 families had been notified so far.