ORLANDO, Fla. – In the decade since a gunman killed 49 people at Pulse, evidence has gradually emerged suggesting the gay nightclub was chosen as a target only minutes before the terrorist attack.
Omar Mateen, 29, was killed in a gunfight with police after launching what was, at the time, the deadliest shooting in American history.
Federal authorities now believe Disney Springs, a shopping and entertainment district at Walt Disney World, was Mateen’s intended target.
[WATCH: Reaction as Pulse Nightclub building is demolished, clearing way for permanent memorial]
He also cased a similar entertainment center in West Palm Beach and another nightclub in Downtown Orlando that did not specifically cater to the LGBTQ community, records show.
Mateen may have been inspired to commit a terrorist act three weeks before the Pulse shooting, investigators believe.
A spokesman for the Islamic State, or ISIS, called for “lone-wolf” attacks on civilians in the U.S. and Europe during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in an audio recording that was published May 21, 2016.
Mateen, his wife and three-year-old son were visiting Disney Springs, Walt Disney World’s shopping and entertainment district, when cell phone records show Mateen pulled up a news article on his phone about the ISIS message.
Those cell phone records were among the evidence made public during the 2018 trial of Mateen’s widow, Noor Salman.
[WATCH: Noor Salman’s defense says Omar Mateen visited Disney Springs before shooting at Pulse]
A federal jury found Salman not guilty of aiding and abetting her husband in the Pulse attack and offering material support to ISIS.
During the trial, Salman’s attorneys argued that she could not have known Mateen was planning an attack at Pulse because Mateen himself did not choose the nightclub as a target until shortly before the shooting on June 12, 2016.
“The target of that terrorist attack was not the Pulse nightclub,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Sweeney told jurors during closing arguments. “The target of the attack was Disney.”
The path to Pulse
Mateen purchased the weapons he would use in the shooting - a Sig Sauer SIG MCS semi-automatic rifle and a 9mm Glock 17 handgun - at a gun store near his home in St. Lucie County on June 4 and 5, receipts and surveillance video shows.
Late on June 4, records Mateen and his family drove to West Palm Beach where investigators believe he scoped out CityPlace, a shopping and entertainment center.
Four days later, Mateen and his family traveled to the Orlando area to visit Florida Mall and Bass Pro Shops, where records show Mateen purchased ammunition for his rifle.
That evening the family returned to Disney Springs. Surveillance video shown to jurors during Salman’s trial showed her and their son inside a store as Mateen walked around outside by himself.
Mateen visited a gun range in St. Lucie County June 9 where he was captured on video firing the rifle he would use in the Pulse shooting.
The next day Mateen bought a baby doll and an infant stroller at Walmart, records show.
That stroller, which investigators said was too small for Mateen’s then-three-year-old son, was later found in the gunman’s rented minivan parked outside Pulse.
Mateen was likely planning to use the stroller to smuggle a rifle into Disney Springs, according to federal prosecutors.
Around 10:00 p.m. on June 11, four hours before the Pulse shooting, surveillance cameras captured Mateen walking around Disney Springs by himself and purchasing a t-shirt at the House of Blues store.
The visible presence of uniformed Orange County sheriff’s deputies patrolling Disney Springs may have deterred Mateen from launching an attack there, authorities later said.
Records show Mateen used his phone to search Google for “disney springs” around 10:28 p.m. and “disney world” at 11:05 p.m.
Cell tower data showed Mateen was in the vicinity of Disney’s Epcot theme park at 12:22 a.m. on June 12 when he conducted a Google search for “downtown orlando nightclubs”, court records show.
That Google search produced results for EVE Orlando, a nightclub located in the heart of Downtown Orlando that does not specifically cater to the LGBTQ community, authorities said.
Data from cell towers indicates Mateen left Disney around 12:27 a.m. and travelled northeast along I-4, arriving in the downtown area around 12:42 a.m.
EVE Orlando had substantial security at the front door and police officers were present outside the nightclub, according to Salman’s attorneys, presumably making it a difficult target.
At 1:01 a.m. Mateen did another Google search for “downtown orlando nightclubs” and obtained directions to Pulse nightclub, court records show.
Cell tower data suggests Mateen began driving south towards Pulse, arriving near the nightclub about 15 minutes later.
Mateen conducted a third Google search for “downtown orlando nightclubs” at 1:33 a.m. and again obtained directions to EVE Orlando, records indicate.
Citing cell tower data, investigators believe Mateen began driving north from Pulse back to EVE Orlando before turning around and returning to Pulse around 1:37 a.m.
Cameras inside Pulse captured video of Mateen entering the nightclub for the first time at 1:41 a.m. and spending about 13 minutes casing the bar and dance floor.
Mateen then left Pulse and moved his rented minivan to a parking lot next door, surveillance video shows.
Armed with a rifle and handgun, Mateen re-entered Pulse at 2:01 a.m. and began firing.