A man who dropped a friend off outside the Pulse nightclub early Sunday morning says he saw gunman Omar Mateen headed into the venue moments before the shooting — and recognized him from a gay dating app.
Kevin West, a regular at Pulse, told the Los Angeles Times Mateen had been messaging him on and off for about a year on the gay chat and dating app Jack'd. At about 1 a.m. on Sunday, after dropping off his friend at the club, West noticed Mateen crossing the street; he recognized his face, but did not know his name. He was wearing a dark cap and carrying his cellphone, and walked directly past West. "I said, 'Hey,' and he turned and said, 'Hey,'" West told the Times. West said Mateen nodded his head, and he could tell who it was "because of the eyes."
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