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At least four regular customers at the Orlando gay nightclub where a gunman killed 49 people said Monday that they had seen Omar Mateen there before, the regulars told Orlando Sentinel  in an interview.

“Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent,” a regular of the club, Ty Smith said.

Another Pulse regular, Kevin West, told the Los Angeles Times that Mateen messaged him on and off for a year using a gay chat app.

They had never met, West said, but he watched as Mateen entered the club about 1 a.m. Sunday, an hour before the shooting began.

Earlier, 50 people were reported dead, other 53 injured during a shooting at Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida on June 12.

NBC News reported that Mateen called the emergency services before the attack and swore allegiance to the so-called Islamic State (IS) militant group. The group later said that an IS ‘fighter’ had carried out the attack. The claim did not specify whether IS was directly involved or simply taking credit for inspiring the attack.

US President, Barak Obama described the attack as “the brutal murder of dozens of innocent people”.

“It was an act of terror and an act of hate,” he said, adding that it was a heartbreaking day for the LGBT community.