DHAKA: The man behind the worst mass shooting in recent US history visited the gay nightclub where he carried out the massacre several times, witnesses say.

Chris Callen, a performer at Pulse in Orlando, Florida, told the Daily News that Omar Mateen had been attending the venue for the past three years, reports the BBC.

Investigators have not yet commented on the reports.

Mateen opened fire in the packed club early on Sunday, leaving 49 people dead and dozens wounded.

‘I’ve seen him a couple of times at Pulse, a couple of other people that I’ve spoken with, including an-ex security guard, have actually witnessed this guy at Pulse many times before,’ said Chris Callen.

In one incident, Callen said Mateen pulled a knife on a friend after being angered by a religious joke.

Despite this, Callen said Mateen was a ‘nice guy... Maybe he got radicalized and hated who he was’.

‘Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent,’ Ty Smith told the Orlando Sentinel.

BDST: 1541 HRS, JUN 14, 2016
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