Omar Mateen, the gunman in the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting that claimed the lives of 49 people and injured 53 others joked about bringing a gun to a training class in 2007, records show.
Mateen, who worked as a licensed armed security guard, previously failed to become a police officer and before then he was dismissed from officer training for the Florida Department of Corrections.
The state Department of Corrections told Fusionin a statement over email that Mateen "began employment with the Department of Corrections on October 27, 2006 and was involuntarily dismissed on April 27, 2007 during his enrollment at Florida Corrections Academy located at Indian River State College." The Department of Corrections also said in the statement: "He did not complete his academic program and was not certified as a correctional officer."
Mateen's dismissal was "administrative termination not involving misconduct" according to state records, but records released show several instances of misconduct led to his dismissal. The most troubling instance, in hindsight, was the time he joked about bringing a gun to the training school.
"On April 14, 2007, while the class was given a 15-minute break Omar Mateen approach[ed] me laughing saying that if he was to bring a gun to school, would I tell anybody," wrote one of Mateen's trainers to Kevin Lapham, identified as Academy Coordinator in the documents. The trainer wrote that he looked at Mateen and "turned away" after Mateen's remark.
That was on April 23, 2007. Two days after the trainer reported the incident Warden P.H. Skipper of the Martin Correctional Institution recommended Mateen be dismissed from the training program for several repeated infractions, but also because he joked about bringing a gun. Skipper brought up the April 16, 2007 Virginia Tech shooting in his letter.
Skipper called Mateen's statement "extremely disturbing" writing:
"In light of recent tragic events at Virginia Tech officer Mateen's inquiry about bringing a weapon to class is at best extremely disturbing."
Records show Mateen was written up for falling asleep during training on multiple occasions. Mateen fell asleep in class and fell asleep during training on the shooting range. The documents also include letters from Mateen himself where he admitted to his infractions and tried to explain himself in other instances. He was also written up for leaving class without permission and showing up late.
Omar Mateen - Dismissal documents by ThisIsFusion
Mateen was killed in a confrontation with police the night of the Orlando shooting. His wife, Noor Mateen, is currently being investigated for her involvement in the shooting.
