Orlando Gunman Excelled at Firing Range Tests, Records Showhttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/us/orlando-gunman-excelled-at-firing-range-tests-records-show.html?_r=0By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑAJUNE 22, 2016
The gunman who committed the massacre in an Orlando, Fla., nightclub was a skilled marksman who repeatedly passed firing range tests with near-perfect scores, state records released Wednesday showed.
The gunman, Omar Mateen, took the tests nine times with at least three different handguns, to obtain and keep the state firearms license he needed to work as an armed security guard.
In all, Mr. Mateen fired 10 series of 48 shots at paper targets — two series for his initial licensing, and then one for each license renewal. Each time, he easily exceeded the minimum score, 168 out of 240. His lowest score was 203, and on seven of his 10 series, he scored 231 or higher, according to the records from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which were obtained by the group Judicial Watch under the state’s open records law.
He first took the test in September 2007, using a .357-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver. He took it several more times with a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, though it was not clear that the same weapon was used each of those times, the last test being in August 2015. And twice, he used a 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson semiautomatic.
Each firing range test was accompanied by a written test; Mr. Mateen scored 100 percent most times, and never below 90 percent.
It was not clear how often he practiced. In the June 12 attack on Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, his primary weapon was an assault rifle, and he also used a handgun.
Forty-nine people were killed and 53 were wounded in the assault, and Mr. Mateen, 29, who declared allegiance to the Islamic State amid the slaughter, was killed in a shootout with the police. The F.B.I. is investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism, and also looking into the possibility that it was a hate crime.
Mr. Mateen, who listed himself on the paperwork in 2007 as standing 5 feet 11 inches and weighing 220 pounds, worked as an armed guard from that year until his death for G4S, a major private security firm. To be licensed, he passed a psychological evaluation.
Previously, he had worked briefly as a state prison guard but was dismissed before completing his training period for reasons that have not been made public.
A version of this article appears in print on June 23, 2016, on page A20 of the New York edition with the headline: Gunman in Orlando Massacre Excelled in Tests at Firing Range, Records Show.
