Omar Mateen, the shooter responsible for the largest mass shooting in American history on Sunday, was born in Queens.
According to a petition for change of name that Mateen filed in 2006, the 29-year-old was born in New Hyde Park on Nov. 16, 1986. He officially changed his name from Omar Mir Seddique to Omar Mir Seddique Mateen.
Spencer Ackerman, the U.S. National Security Reporter for The Guardian, tweeted out a copy of the document on Monday.
Though an exact address was not provided, a portion of New Hyde Park bounded by 271st Street, 78th through 83rd Avenues and Langdale Street are a part of Queens County. North Shore-LIJ Hospital also straddles the Nassau County and Queens County border.
Mateen walked into Pulse, a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, at 2 a.m. on Sunday and began firing. In addition to the 49 reported deaths, at least 53 others were hospitalized with related injuries. Mateen, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, was shot and killed by responding police officers.
According to published reports, Mateen had a troubled history. His ex-wife Sitora Yusufiy claims Mateen became abusive during their marriage. They were separated after less than a year after Yusufiy’s parents flew to Orlando from New Jersey to remove her from their Florida home.
Mateen, who worked as a security guard, was placed on an FBI terrorist watch list and was interviewed in 2013 and 2014 by the federal agency about his potential ties to terrorism.
Several memorial services took place around New York to honor the victims of the shooting, including one in Jackson Heights’ Diversity Plaza.
https://twitter.com/attackerman/status/742425472471044097
