Could Disney Springs Have Been A Target?
ORLANDO – Omar Mateen, who Sunday committed the largest mass shooting in United States at Pulse a gay nightclub had looked at other possible soft targets in Orlando. According to a report first published on People.com he was on the “radar,” of the Disney World security team.
According to the People,com, Mateen and his wife, Noor Zahi Salman, visited Walt Disney World in April, the source says. Salman told federal authorities on Sunday that her husband had more recently been “scouting Disney Springs and Pulse [nightclub] for attacks.”
One of the reasons that he was interested in Disney Springs, doesn’t have security and bag check before entry. Meanwhile, there are metal detectors have been installed outside Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Epcot since 2015 and guests are selected at random for screening. The location is more of a neighborhood than like a theme park. It has shops, cafe’s and plenty of eating, shopping and entertainment area’s that would have made it a soft target with plenty of people out for a good night of fun.
As News Talk Florida has been reporting that despite being investigated by the FBI twice before Sunday’s tragedy in 2013 and 2014, Mateen bought an an AR-15-style assault rifle, a Sig Sauer RMCX, on June 4 – just one week before the attack, the source says. He also had a Glock model 17 9mm and a Smith and Wesson .38 caliber revolver.
The first investigation by the FBI occurred after Mateen made concerning comments at work. As part of their investigation, the FBI interviewed witnesses, provided physical surveillance, and interviewed Mateen on two separate occasions, but the investigation was ultimately closed, according to a federal law enforcement source.
In 2014, the FBI opened a second investigation into Mateen for his ties to Florida-born Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, the first known American suicide bomber – who blew himself up in Syria in 2014. Mateen was interviewed as part of the investigation, but there was not enough evidence at the time and the case was closed.
