Orlando shooter Mateen's ex-wife says he was homosexual, used gay dating apps

Mateen's ex-wife said that her husband Omar Mateen might have chosen to hide his true identity out of anger and shame.

Washington: A day after 50 people were shot dead by Omar Mateen in US city of Orlando, a shocking revelation has come out on Tuesday that the shooter was homosexual and used gay dating apps.

Mateen's ex-wife and a former classmate has disclosed this big secret about him today. She also said that her husband might have chosen to hide his true identity out of anger and shame.

The ex-wife of the 29-year-old man who killed 50 people and injured another 53 in a Orlando nightclub early on Sunday had also revealed that Mateen was violent and mentally unstable and beat her repeatedly while they were married.

The ex-wife, according to DailyMail, further said that Mateen and his other friends would hang out together and go to gay nightclubs after classes at the Indian River Community College. He also said that one time, Mateen himself asked him out 'romantically'.

Mateen also reportedly chatted with gay men online. One man, Kevin West, has come forward and told that he had talked with Mateen over the gay dating app Jack'd on and off for about a year, as per the Los Angeles Times.

Meanwhile, Mateen's second wife, Noor Zahi Salman, today arrived at the apartment she had shared with the terrorist with their three-year-old son to collect their belongings.

She was seen for the first time today since the nightclub massacre took place. However, she pulled the hood of a grey sweater down over her face to hide. Salman was escorted from a car to the front door by police officers.

So far, authorities have not yet confirmed if the shooter, who was killed by an elite police squad on Sunday morning, had visited the gay nightclub before and was a user of the gay dating app.

Mateen, who was born in New York, called police before the shooting and swore allegiance to the terrorist group Islamic State, according to the police.

FBI Director James Comey revealed that Mateen was monitored for 10 months because of radicalism and was previously interviewed by the FBI, but the agency found no reasons to prohibit him to purchase weapons.

Despite the red flags Mateen raised in his interactions with others, the mass killer was able to purchase a handgun and an assault rifle legally in the days before the massacre, Trevor Velino of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told reporters.

He had tried to buy body armor, but the store where he tried to make the purchase doesn't sell that product, according to a store manager.

FBI Director James Comey said the agency was "highly confident" Mateen was radicalised, at least in part, by viewing extremism on the internet.

"There are strong indications of radicalisation by this killer and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organisations," Comey said.

The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility of the attack, however, the extent of its involvement is still being probed.

A report on the official online IS radio channel, Al-Bayan, described the attack as a "raid on a Crusader gathering" carried out by "one of the Caliphate's soldiers in America."

(With Agency inputs)