ORLANDO: US investigators on Tuesday were digging into what motivated a Florida man to slaughter 49 people at a gay nightclub, including evidence that he had become absorbed in militant Islamist ideas and reports that he might have been gay himself.

US law enforcement officials were investigating reports that the man who killed 49 people at the nightclub in Orlando might have been gay himself, but not openly so, two officials said, with one of them describing the massacre as a possible “self-hate crime”.

Omar Mateen, who was shot dead by police after a three-hour standoff early on Sunday, left behind a tangled trail of possible motives. He also called police during his rampage to voice allegiance to various militant Islamist groups.

Mateen, 29, was a US citizen, born in New York of Afghan immigrant parents.

“We currently do not have any information to indicate that a foreign terrorist group directed the attack in Orlando,” President Barack Obama told reporters after a meeting of the National Security Council.

The investigation into the possibility that Mateen, who worked as a security guard at a gated retirement community, might have been gay follows media reports citing men who said they were regulars at the club and saw Mateen there before the attack.

However, another source disputed the idea that Mateen was a regular visitor to Pulse.

Visiting a gay club in and of itself would say nothing about Mateen’s sexuality.

The two officials said that if it emerged that Mateen led a secret double life or had gay impulses that conflicted with his religious beliefs, it might have been what the same official called “one factor” in explaining his motive.

“It’s far too early to be definitive, but we have to consider at least the possibility that he might have sought martyrdom partly to gain absolution for what he believed were his grave sins,” the official said.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2016