The father of the suspected Orlando shooter said his son became enraged after seeing men kiss in Miami.
The father of the suspected Orlando shooter at a gay night club said his son may have been inspired to kill after seeing men kiss.
Mir Seddique said Sunday morning that his son, 29-year-old father and husband Omar Mateen, was not motivated by religion.
However, as the death toll jumped from 20 to 50, making this the deadliest mass shooting in American history, Seddique told NBC that his son became enraged weeks earlier during a trip to Miami.
Read: 50 Clubgoers Shot Dead in Orlando Gay Bar Rampage
“We were in downtown Miami," Seddique said. “He saw two men kissing each other in front of his wife and kids and he got very angry. They were kissing each other and touching each other and he said, ‘Look at that. In front of my son they are doing that.’ And then we were in the men’s bathroom and men were kissing each other.”
Seddique was speaking to reporters to apologize on behalf of his family and disavow his son's actions.
Police say Mateen, a security guard in the Port St. Lucie area, was first engaged by a cop outside the Pulse nightclub.
Mateen was believed to have had an AR-15 style assault rifle as well as a handgun. A standoff with police lasted three hours.
Read: Mother Shares Chilling Texts Her Son Wrote While Held Hostage in Orlando Gay Bar: 'He Has Us'
About 30 people were saved when a SWAT armored vehicle smashed through one of the club's walls.
The event has been classified as an act of domestic terrorism, the worst on American soil since September 11, 2001.
While Sen. Bill Nelson addressed reporters during a press event in Florida, he revealed that Mateen possibly had connections to ISIS.
Authorities began searching Mateen's St. Lucie area home Sunday morning.
Watch: Sole Survivor of WDBJ On-Air Shooting: I'm Looking Forward to Going To Work
