Last night, Omar Mateen allegedly entered a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. and opened fire, killing 50 people and injuring at least 53 more in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Orlando police later shot the suspect. He was 29.
While police continue to investigate, Mateen’s ex-wife tells The Washington Post that he was unstable and violent.
“He was not a stable person,” said the ex-wife, who chose to remain anonymous out of safety concerns.
“He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that.”
She revealed that they had met online and got married in 2009. They moved into a two-bedroom condo in Fort Pierce, Fla., owned by Mateen’s family.
“He seemed like a normal human being,” she said, noting that he was not religious at the time and she knew of no connection to radical Islam.
She confirmed that Mateen was born to Afghan parents but was born in New York.
The ex-wife said she finally escaped the marriage when her parents learned of Mateen’s assaults on her.
They flew to Fort Pierce and pulled her out of the home, leaving her belongings behind.
“They literally saved my life,” she said.
The ex-wife added she never spoke with Mateen after that. The two were officially divorced in 2011.
President Obama has referred to the tragedy as “an act of terror and an act of hate.”
Speaking to NBC News, Mateen’s father, Mir Seddique, said his son’s crime “has nothing to do with religion,” indicating that it was motivated by hate.
He explained that Mateen became enraged two months prior after seeing two men kissing in Miami and believes the incident may have prompted his heinous actions.
“We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident,” Seddique said. “We weren’t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country.”