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Orlando shooter homophobe and wife beater: reports

The pair were divorced in 2011, according to a court document seen by AFP, and Yusufiy said she has not had contact with Mateen in years.

– Regular at mosque –

The imam of the mosque where Mateen worshipped said he came to evening prayers three or four times a week, bringing his son who is about four or five years old.

“He would pray and his son would play,” said Syed Shafeeq Rahman of the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, who has known Mateen since 2003 when he became the imam.

Mateen did not socialize, leaving when services ended.

He didn’t talk but would smile and shake hands, Rahman told AFP.

“I never expected this,” Rahman said, holding a Koran in his hand as he spoke with reporters. “We teach peace and justice.”

“It must be some kind of psychological problem or anger problem,” the imam said, adding that Mateen might have been radicalized on the Internet.

Bedar Bakht, who knew Mateen as a boy, said he saw him less than a week ago at the mosque with his young son, and that he seemed sad and was very quiet.

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Mateen liked to talk about religion and could be intimidating when he argued, he said.

“He was very direct and really into bodybuilding,” Bakht said. “He was huge at one point.

“He would tell you if he didn’t agree with you,” he said. “He may have had some anger issues.”

But Bakht said he never saw Mateen speak with hatred of any other group.

“He was respectful,” he said. “I never heard him insulting women or gays.”

Mateen owned a small caliber handgun and worked as a guard at a secure facility for juvenile delinquents.

Authorities said he bought a handgun and a assault rifle two days before the attack.

According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services website, he had a gun license set to expire in September of next year.

The FBI said Mateen was investigated twice for possible extremist views and contact with a US suicide bomber in 2013 and 2014 but never prosecuted.

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