Orlando gunman Omar Mateen 'searched for videos of Isis beheadings'

Investigators are probing the digitial history of the 29-year-old killer

(Myspace)

Officials are scouring the digital record of Omar Mateen, the Orlando gunman, amid reports he tried to download videos showing Isis beheadings.

As the FBI and other agencies seek to determine how the 29-year-old divorced security guard came to be radicalised, it was reported that examination of his electronic devices showed he had made a number of searches for Islamist propaganda, including videos of Isis beheading victims.

“He consumed a hell of a lot of jihadist propaganda,” one unidentified official told CNN.

Nicole Edwards and her wife Kellie Edwards observe a moment of silence during a vigil outside the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts for the mass shooting victims at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando (Getty Images)

It appears that at this stage the authorities believe that Mateen was somebody who was self-radicalised and inspired by Isis and other groups, rather than having any direct link to an extremist group. Earlier this week, Isis had claimed the New York-born Mateen was a “solider of the caliphate”.

FBI Director James Comey said that 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,” Mr Comey said.

“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.”

Mateen, who is reported to have visited the Pulse nightclub a dozen times and whose former wife said he may have been gay, first came to the attention of the FBI in 2013 when he was said to have made “inflammatory comments to co-workers alleging possible terrorist ties”, according to FBI senior agent Ronald Hopper said. But investigators “were unable to verify the substance of his comments”.

In 2014, the FBI interviewed Mateen again over possible connections with Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, a Florida man who became the first known American suicide bomber in Syria. The men frequented the same mosque in the coastal city of Fort Pierce, two hours from Orlando.

“We determined that contact was minimal and did not constitute a substantive relationship or threat at that time,” Mr Hopper said.

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As a result, Mateen was able to legally purchase the weapons he used - a semi-automatic rifle and a hand gun - without any problems. He also tried to buy body armour. Gun control campaigners say the rifle Mateen purchased, the AR-15, has been used in many mass shootings and there is a campaign to sue the Remington Arms Company, the makers of the weapon.

In the days since Mateen stormed into the club in the centre of Orlando, leaving 49 people dead in his trail, an image has emerged of a somewhat troubled man, who had a violent past.

While his father - who came to the US from Afghanistan - described Mateen as a “good son” and regulars at his mosque said they saw no signs of radicalisation, his ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, described a brief but violent relationship to a man she described as “mentally ill”. She said she was only able to escape from him with the help of her family, and said he was physically abusive and a steroid abuser.

Despite being questioned by the FBI, Mateen was able to get a job with G4S, the British-owned multinational security agency.

The FBI has said it will likely review its handling of Mateen and whether it ought to have done more.

“We will look at our own work, to see if there is something we should have done differently,” said Mr Comey, the agency’s director. So far, I think the honest answer is: I don’t think so. We will continue to look forward in this investigation and backward.”