The FBI confirmed that agents did visit a Florida gun store after employees reported to the agency in May that a suspicious person, now believed to be Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen, had tried to purchase body armor.
But officials said Friday there was not enough information to follow up on the report.
FBI officials said the employees at Lotus Gunworks, which did not carry the style of body armor the prospective customer had sought, were unable to collect an any personal information from the man, including his name, date of birth, credit card, telephone number or email address.
“Unfortunately, given the lack information about this individual, FBI agents were unable to conduct any meaningful investigative followup,” FBI officials said in a statement issued Friday.
Robert Abell, co-owner of the Jensen Beach, Florida, gun store, told reporters this week that Mateen came into the store roughly five weeks before the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub. He said Mateen had asked about buying body armor and about 1,000 rounds of ammunition but that the man left empty-handed when an employee told him that the store didn’t carry the type he was seeking.
“Unfortunately nobody connected the dots and he slipped under the cracks,” Mr. Abell said.
Mateen killed 49 people and injured 53 others when he stormed the gay nightclub early Sunday. The gunman was killed in a shootout with police after a hourslong standoff during which he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group, claimed to have accomplices and threatened to detonate explosive devices.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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