- He had a long history of aggressive behavior. A third grade teacher described him as "rude, aggressive, and abusive" and he was eventually placed in a separate class for children with behavioral problems. This continued all throughout his adolescence and teenage years where he was often in trouble for violent incidents.
- He once attempted to become a police officer.
- On the September 11th attacks, he cheered on the attackers and claimed that Osama Bin Laden was his uncle who taught him how to use an AK-47.
- The Pulse Nightclub shooting, in which he killed forty-nine people and wounded fifty-three others, was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history until it was surpassed by the Las Vegas Strip shooting in October 2017.
- He tried to become a prison guard but was kicked out of the program for joking about bringing a gun to class days after the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting and for skipping class.
- He worked as a cashier and cook at a Chick-fil-A, a cashier at a Walgreens, a cashier at a Nutrition World, a floor watcher at a Gold's Gym, a sales clerk at a GNC vitamin and supplement store.
- His parents were accused by teachers of enabling his bad behavior and of refusing to do anything about his anger problems.
- By the time he graduated high school, he had been suspended for a total of forty-eight days for getting into fights and violently attacking and injuring other students and had been arrested once.
- He made frequent claims about being associated with terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah and later Isis. Despite this, there is no evidence that he had connections with any of the groups.
- He was born in New York and spent most of his childhood in Florida.
- He worked as a security guard from 2007 until his death.
- He was married twice. His first wife divorced him on grounds of physical and emotional abuse and he cheated on his second wife which prompted her to leave him.
- His first marriage broke up amid allegations of domestic violence.
- He was a fitness enthusiast who reportedly used steroids.
- His ex-wife claims that he suffered from Bipolar Disorder.
- He sold his house to his sister two month before his attack on the Pulse nightclub.
- He regularly attended the Pulse nightclub in the months before his attack.
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