Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and local police spent hours Sunday going through the apartment of the alleged Orlando shooter, Omar Sadduque Mateen, as well as his parents' house in Fort Pierce.
A small gaggle of reporters and TV cameras were parked outside the police tape in front of the apartment complex in Fort Pierce whereMateenallegedly lived. The FBI and local police were on the scene, but neither could confirm anything about the investigation.
Neighbors in the apartment building had been asked to evacuate as they woke up and cleared out around sunrise. They weren't told where to go, just to leave their apartments.
Isaiah Stephens, who lives in the building, was milling around the parking lot in disbelief.
"This neighborhood is actually really quiet," said Stephens. He said that he moved here because it was such a low-key, nice neighborhood. "I have never had to call the police out here."
Aside from the rumble of TV trucks and the chirp of cicadas, it was a quiet afternoon on this block.
Fort Pierce police will post on their Twitter and Facebook when it is safe for residents of the apartment complex to come home.
We appreciate the patience of residents & neighbors at Woodland Condos on S. 17th Street.— Fort Pierce P.D. (@FortPiercePD) June 12, 2016
At 9:00 p.m., there is a vigil scheduled to be held in the parking lot of TattleTails Nightclub, which has a reputation as the only full-time gay bar in this part of Florida.
Earlier in the evening, patrons held a moment of silence before starting a game of bingo. To cancel the regularly scheduled game would be to let the shooter win, they said.
"It's just sorrow," said Daniel Mundis, who plays in a darts league at TattleTails. "We feel the same way we did with Sandy Hook, or Columbine, or any of the other ones. It's a little closer to home, but it's the same thing."
Meanwhile, in nearby Port St. Lucie, more law enforcement agents were seen at the residence of the suspect's parents, Mir Seddique and Shahla Mateen.
Until recently, BeckyDiefendorfworked with OmarSadduqueMateen'smother,ShahlaMateen, at a Port St LucieWalgreen's, whereDiefendorfwas a manager andShahlahandled cosmetics.
"I would only see Omar when he came to the store to visit her,"DiefendorftoldWLRNas she watched FBI agents and local police scour one of theMateenparents' homes onBayshoreBoulevard in Port St Lucie, where they were removing computers and other potential evidence.
"He was very stand-backish, wouldn't talk much. And she would never talk about him. Always about her daughters but never about him. If you'd ask her, 'How's your son doing?' she'd never want to talk about him."
"So, I mean, you could always tell there was something there, like they knew something" about him, said Diefendorf.
Diefendorf also said the family was "very defensive about their religion...She would never talk about her religion, and if I ever asked her about it she would act like she thought I was being racist or something."
Daniel Villa is a 30-year-old gay hair stylist in nearby Stuart. He came to the Port St Lucie parents' house to watch the police and FBI agents and try to make sense of the atrocity.
Daniel Villa, a hair stylist in Stuart, tells of his brother and cousin's close calls in Orlando.
"I'm in a state of shock," said Villa, who edits a gay affairs blog, OMG.
"My little brother lives in Orlando and we have a close relationship. He's also gay and he was close to going to Pulse last night. My cousin happened to be in Orlando last night too and he was there at the club. They left the club around 1:30 - and when I woke up today in the morning is when he called me and said, 'Did you see the news?'
"At first I was angry because I don't know what was in this guy's mind. But it comes to one word: hate.
"It's very scary to know that someone that did this actually lives around us. It's just one of those things that's hard to think about."
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