ORLANDO: People close to the gunman behind the attack on a gay nightclub in Florida that left 50 dead on Sunday paint a picture of a violent and prejudiced young man.

The suspect, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, was a Muslim American of Afghan descent and law enforcement were investigating whether he had ties to or was inspired by religious extremism.

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation said he apparently made a 911 call just before the massacre to claim allegiance to the militant Islamic State group.

But relatives interviewed by US media said Mateen, who worked as a security officer and had a wife and young son, was not especially religious.

They did, however, describe a man who had anti-gay views, mental health problems and was physically abusive to his ex-wife.

Mateen’s ex-wife said he was violent and mentally unstable — but not a religious extremist.

“A few months after we were married I saw his instability, and I saw that he was bipolar and he would get mad out of nowhere,” Sitora Yusufiy told reporters outside her home in Boulder, Colorado.

“After a few months he started abusing me physically ... not allowing me to speak to my family, keeping me hostage from them.”

Yusufiy, who met Mateen online and married him in 2009, said he was a practising Muslim but showed no signs of radicalisation. “There was no sign of any of this at all,” she said.

She noted that Mateen was “mentally unstable and mentally ill” and had a history of steroid use.

Steroids can cause mental problems, including paranoia and delusional thoughts.

When they split, “my family literally rescued me ... they had to pull me out of his arms and find an emergency flight”.

The pair were divorced in 2011, according to a court document and Yusufiy said she has not had contact with Mateen in years.

Regular at mosque

The imam of the mosque where Mateen worshipped said he came to evening prayers three or four times a week, bringing his son who is about four or five years old.

“He would pray and his son would play,” said Syed Shafeeq Rahman of the Islamic Centre of Fort Pierce, who had known Mateen since 2003 when he became the imam.

Mateen did not socialise, leaving when prayers ended.

He didn’t talk but would smile and shake hands, Mr Rahman said.

“I never expected this,” he told reporters. “We teach peace and justice. It must be some kind of psychological problem or anger problem,” the imam said, adding that Mateen might have been radicalised on the internet.

Bedar Bakht, who knew Mateen as a boy, said he saw him less than a week ago at the mosque with his young son, and that he seemed sad and was very quiet.

Mateen liked to talk about religion and could be intimidating when he argued, he said.

“He was very direct and really into bodybuilding,” Bakht said. “He was huge at one point. He would tell you if he didn’t agree with you. He may have had some anger issues.”

But Bakht said he never saw Mateen speak with hatred of any other group. “He was respectful,” he said. “I never heard him insulting women or gays.”

Mateen owned a small calibre handgun and worked as a guard at a secure facility for juvenile delinquents. Authorities said he bought a handgun and a long gun two days before the attack.

According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services website, he had a gun licence set to expire in September next year.

The FBI said Mateen was investigated twice for possible extremist views and contact with a US suicide bomber in 2013 and 2014 but never prosecuted.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2016