Witness says Orlando shooter used gay dating app

FBI and police officers outside Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

(Image credit: Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)

last updated 14 June 2016

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."

Once photos of Mateen began to surface after the shooting, West went to the police to share what he knew about him. The FBI now has West's phone and Jack'd login information. Multiple Pulse regulars say they saw Mateen there several times before the massacre, which killed 49 people. Also on Monday, a former classmate at Indian River Community College told the Palm Beach Post Mateen once asked him out, and while they "went to a few gay bars" together, the classmate was "not out at the time, so I declined his offer." He believed Mateen was gay but not open about it.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox