Omar Mateen: What we know about the gunman in the Florida mass shooting

Omar Mateen, the U.S.-born manresponsible for the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in the country'shistory, was a chameleon a devoted father to some, an angry bigot to others.

Authorities say 49people are dead and 53 others wounded after Mateenopened fire with an assault rifle inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., early Sunday. He was killed by police.

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Mateen's motives are murky. Hisfather speculated he was angry after seeing two men kiss, but Pulse patrons have told The Canadian Press and other news organizationshe was a repeatcustomer at the club. Mateenclaimed to support various Islamic extremist groups, but didn't seem to know much about them, including which ones were in conflict with each other.

Here's what we know about Mateen, 29.

He was bornin New York andwent to high school in Stuart, Fla.Aclassmate described him as a typical teenager who played football.

The imam at the mosqueMateenattended for nearly 10 years described him as a soft-spoken regular worshipper whorarely interacted with the congregation.

"He hardly had any friends,"SyedShafeeqRahman, who heads the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, told Reuters.

Fellow worshippers at the mosque told theCBC's Susan Ormiston that he last visited the mosque Friday night. One said he seemed like a devoted father, often kissing and hugging his young son.

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Mateen lived what seemed like a quiet domestic life in a ground-floor condo beside a duck pond. Ormiston reported that through the condo's sliding doors one couldsee a typical livingroom with an overstuffed leather sofa and walls decorated with dozens of family photos.

Still, there were worrying signs from people who had spent time with Mateen.

'Not a stable person'

He was married in March 2009 to a woman he met online who moved to Florida to be with him,according to the Washington Post. They were divorced in 2011. The woman saidMateenwas "not a stable person" and that he beat her.

Sitora Yusufiy, the ex-wife, told reporters later Sunday he had a violent temper andwasemotionally and mentally disturbed,Reuters reported. She also said she was "rescued" from the marriage after four months.

The woman claimed Mateenwanted to be a police officer and had applied to the police academy.

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Security firm G4S, based in Jupiter, Fla., confirmed in a statement to multiple media outlets thatMateenwas an employee of the company since September 2007.

Mateenworked as a security guard for G4Sinside the St.LucieCounty Courthouse in Fort Pierce.He checkedcitizens for weapons andsharp objects as they entered through security screening.

A local resident,JayJayQuartino, recognizedMateenfrom photographs on TV. Hetold CBC News Mateen was pleasant and even cracked jokes.

But another co-worker, Daniel Gilroy, said Mateenhad a violent nature.

"He was an angry person and a bigot," Gilroy said. "He would hit things, and this wasn't seldom, this was almost all the time."

Known to the FBI

Mateen came to theattention of the FBI in 2013 "when he made inflammatory comments to co-workers alleging possible terrorist ties," Special Agent Ron Hopper said at a news conference Sunday. Authorities interviewed Mateen twice.

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"Ultimately, we were unable to verify the substance of his comments, and the investigation was closed," Hopper said. The FBI investigated him again in 2014 "because of possible ties to an American suicide bomber." Mateen was not currently under investigation or under surveillance.

The FBI says now thatMateen was clearly "radicalized," at least in part via the internet, but there's no evidence he was in contact with any terrorist groups.

Mateen's grasp of the differences between Islamic extremist groups appeared to be shaky.During three calls with 911 dispatchers,Mateennot only professed allegiance to ISIS but also expressed solidarity with a suicide bomber from theNusraFront, and a few years ago he claimed connections toHezbollah, too. Both of the latter groups are enemies of ISIS.

Mateenwas armed with a handgun and anAR15-typerifle, according to Orlando police. Helegally purchased the weapons in Florida within the last week.

May have been a club regular

Mateen's father, Seddique Mir Mateen, told NBC News the attack had nothing to do with religion. He said his son got angry when he recently saw two men kissing in Miami in front of his own son and speculated that might have played a part.

However, two regulars of Pulsetold The Canadian Press they had seen Mateenpartying at the club repeatedly.

Ty Smith and Chris Callenexpressed incredulity at the story being told by Mateen'sfather.

They say Mateen saw plenty of men kiss and far closer to homethan Miami.

"That's bullcrap, right there. No offence. That's straight-upcrap. He's been around us," Smith said Monday in an interview atthe GLBT Community Center of Central Florida.

"Some of those people did a little more than [kiss]outside thebar.He was partying with the people who supposedly drove him todo this?"

Smith said the sometimevisitor would show up with a buddy andlet loose in a way he couldn't when he was closer to the family home: "[He'd get]really, really drunk.He couldn'tdrink when he was at home around his wife, or family. His fatherwas really strict.He used to bitch about it."