Orlando Shooter’s Dad Laments Son's Death

Nearly 24 hours after his son walked into an Orlando nightclub and opened fire, killing 49 people and wounding 53 others before being shot himself, Seddique Mir Mateen released a video on Facebook announcing the death of his son Omar Mateen. That video was taken down a few hours later.

The younger Mateen is accused of acting alone in carrying out what has been called the largest mass shooting in American history. Omar Mateen reportedly began firing at people within the Pulse Orlando Night Club & Ultra Lounge, a popular gay bar, around 2 a.m. Sunday. 

Omar Mateen placed a 911 call from the club's bathroom pledging his allegiance to the Islamic State, law enforcement officials said.

Before the video was removed from Facebook, The New York Times translated the elder Mateen's words of regret at the loss of his son.

“My son, Omar Mateen, was a very good boy, an educated boy, who had a child and a wife, very respectful of his parents,” he said in Dari, a language spoken in Afghanistan, according to the Times' translation. The elder Mateen had 8,000 Facebook followers when the video was released. The number had climbed to 9,496 by 8 a.m. Monday.

“I don’t know what caused this,” he said. “I did not know and did not understand that he has anger in his heart. Only God can punish homosexuality. This is not an issue for humans to punish.” 

The father told NBC News on Sunday that the shooting “has nothing to do with religion.” In an interview, he suggested his son had become enraged at seeing a gay couple kissing during a recent trip to Miami.

“They were kissing each other and touching each other and he said, ‘Look at that. In front of my son they are doing that,’” Seddique was quoted by NBC as saying.

State and local officials are calling the Orlando mass shooting an act of terrorism.

“This is clearly an act of terrorism,” Gov. Rick Scott said during a Sunday afternoon press conference. “It’s sickening (and) it should make every American angry.”

See Also:

• Latest: Officials Begin Identifying 50 People Killed In Orlando Mass Shooting
• Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen: What We Know
• 'This Has Nothing To Do With Religion,' Orlando Shooter's Dad Says

President Barack Obama also classified Omar Mateen's actions as terrorism and issued a fresh call for action on new gun control measures.

"This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, in a house of worship, or in a movie theater or in a nightclub," Obama said. "And we have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be. To actively do nothing is a decision as well."

Sunday's death toll far surpassed an attack at Virginia Tech in 2007, where 33 were killed, as well as high-profile attacks at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2013, where 28 died, and a mass shooting that killed 14 in San Bernardino, Calif., last December.

Orlando Police began releasing the names of those killed about 14 hours after the shooting. Edward Sotomayor Jr., Stanley Almodovar III, Luis Omar Oscasio-Capo and Juan Ramon Guerrero were the first victims identified. All four were killed, police said.

Orlando has established a webpage where officials intend to list victims' names once notifications of next of kin have been made. Most of the victim’s names had been released as of Monday morning. The address is www.cityoforlando.net/victims.

Photo courtesy of the Orlando Police Department