Troubled history of the Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen
[Readers who would prefer not to read articles related to violence may please skip reading this post.]
Troubled. Quiet. Macho. Angry. The volatile life of the Orlando shooter.,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/troubled-quiet-macho-angry-the-volatile-life-of-omar-mateen/2016/06/17/15229250-34a6-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html, dated June 17th 2016. A few short extracts from it:
He was about to graduate from a Florida training academy that would put him on a path to being a police officer. He had left behind his youth as a pudgy, often-bullied kid to become a bulked-up bodybuilder. He was learning how to shoot a gun. Now it was all about to fall apart.
...
After watching the second tower get hit on a classroom TV, Mateen stood up and claimed that Osama bin Laden was his uncle, said the classmate, whose account was corroborated by others.
...
Barone also remembered Mateen’s outward transformation.
“If his arms were 20 inches, he had them over 40,” she said. “He was doing massive steroids that he said he was getting through the mail. He’d come in and buy $50 or $60 worth of protein powders, and also the supplements we sold.”
In school documents dating from 2015 obtained by The Washington Post, Mateen acknowledged that he had “experimented with marijuana” when he was a juvenile and had used steroids.
“This kid bulked up so fast and so quick that he had stretch marks on his skin,” Barone said. “When I tell you he bulked up, oh my Lord, it was like seeing a puny little kid turn into the Hulk.”
--- end short extracts from WaPo article ---
Ravi: Hmm. The historical background given by the article charts a troubled path though nothing seriously criminal. I guess, in all honesty, there would be many more with somewhat similar issues, Muslim and non-Muslim, in the USA, and elsewhere in the world too. [India certainly has some such dangerous types, especially in some areas with rather poor implementation of law & order.] What makes USA special is that such persons could dream about going on a killing spree and be able to actually do that in real life by rather casually and legally buying a hi-tech automatic rifle meant for war and not really civilian self-defence, along with the ammunition needed to go on a killing spree. Once the assault rifle and ammo was with him, the rest may have been so terrifyingly easy as there wasn't any suitably armed opposition to counter him (until the SWAT team came along by which time he had done his massive damage)!
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/06/14/the-gun-the-orlando-shooter-used-was-not-an-ar-15-that-doesnt-change-much/ has some info. about the assault rifle used by Omar Mateen.]
[I thank washingtonpost.com and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above short extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
Troubled. Quiet. Macho. Angry. The volatile life of the Orlando shooter.,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/troubled-quiet-macho-angry-the-volatile-life-of-omar-mateen/2016/06/17/15229250-34a6-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html, dated June 17th 2016. A few short extracts from it:
He was about to graduate from a Florida training academy that would put him on a path to being a police officer. He had left behind his youth as a pudgy, often-bullied kid to become a bulked-up bodybuilder. He was learning how to shoot a gun. Now it was all about to fall apart.
...
After watching the second tower get hit on a classroom TV, Mateen stood up and claimed that Osama bin Laden was his uncle, said the classmate, whose account was corroborated by others.
...
Barone also remembered Mateen’s outward transformation.
“If his arms were 20 inches, he had them over 40,” she said. “He was doing massive steroids that he said he was getting through the mail. He’d come in and buy $50 or $60 worth of protein powders, and also the supplements we sold.”
In school documents dating from 2015 obtained by The Washington Post, Mateen acknowledged that he had “experimented with marijuana” when he was a juvenile and had used steroids.
“This kid bulked up so fast and so quick that he had stretch marks on his skin,” Barone said. “When I tell you he bulked up, oh my Lord, it was like seeing a puny little kid turn into the Hulk.”
--- end short extracts from WaPo article ---
Ravi: Hmm. The historical background given by the article charts a troubled path though nothing seriously criminal. I guess, in all honesty, there would be many more with somewhat similar issues, Muslim and non-Muslim, in the USA, and elsewhere in the world too. [India certainly has some such dangerous types, especially in some areas with rather poor implementation of law & order.] What makes USA special is that such persons could dream about going on a killing spree and be able to actually do that in real life by rather casually and legally buying a hi-tech automatic rifle meant for war and not really civilian self-defence, along with the ammunition needed to go on a killing spree. Once the assault rifle and ammo was with him, the rest may have been so terrifyingly easy as there wasn't any suitably armed opposition to counter him (until the SWAT team came along by which time he had done his massive damage)!
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/06/14/the-gun-the-orlando-shooter-used-was-not-an-ar-15-that-doesnt-change-much/ has some info. about the assault rifle used by Omar Mateen.]
[I thank washingtonpost.com and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above short extracts from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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