ISIS-linked account posts photo purported to be Orlando nightclub shooter

Orange County Sheriff’s Department SWAT members arrive to a fatal shooting at Pulse Orlando nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, June 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

A Twitter account associated with Islamic State on Sunday posted a photo purported to be Omar Mateen, identified by US authorities as the shooter who killed at least 50 people in a massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. “The man who carried out the Florida nightclub attack which killed 50 people and injured dozens,” the caption accompanying the photo read. There was no official Islamic State statement.

It was not possible to verify whether the picture was in fact of Mateen. Other Twitter accounts linked to Islamist militancy also carried photos of the same individual, and Islamic State supporters posted messages of praise for the attack.