Florida mass shooter swore loyalty to IS before attack

Cairo : Omar Mateen, 29, who shot dead 50 people and injured 53 in Orlando gay club, was on the face of it a homophobe who got angry when he saw two men kissing. However, at the same time, he might have been a self-radicalised Islamist inspired by the IS. According to wire agency Reuters, he had sworn allegiance to the ISIS just before the attack.  A Twitter account linked to the Islamic State on Sunday posted a photo purported to be that of Mateen, identified by the US authorities as the shooter.  There was no official Islamic State statement, however. Other Twitter accounts linked to Islamist militancy also posted the photo and carried messages lauding the attack. Mateen was born to Afghan parents and an FBI spokesman said the mass shooting was being investigated as an act of terrorism, adding that they are looking into whether this was an act of domestic or international terror, and if the shooter was a lone wolf.