The Orlando terrorist who killed 49 people and wounded 53 in a mass shooting Sunday in Florida was employed by G4S Plc, a British security firm whose clients in more than 100 countries include the U.S. government.
Omar Mateen, 29, is a U.S. citizen who declared allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group in the hours before the largest mass shooting in the nation’s history at a gay nightclub in Orlando. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had investigated Mateen twice, interviewing him each time before closing the probes, according to an FBI spokesman. Mateen died in a shootout with police.
Mateen had been a G4S employee since Sept. 10, 2007, and the company is cooperating with the FBI, John Kenning, its chief executive officer for North America, said in a statement. “We are shocked and saddened by the tragic event that occurred at the Orlando nightclub,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the friends, families and people affected by this unspeakable tragedy.”
Shares of G4S fell as much as 8.1 percent when trading began Monday. The stock had already declined 34 percent in 12 months, dropping the most in three years on March 9 after a wave of migrants to the U.K. led to increased losses on a contract to house asylum seekers.
G4S also failed to supply enough security guards for the 2012 Olympics in London, forcing the government to deploy members of the armed services in order to make up the numbers, and took a financial hit over claims that it overcharged authorities for electronic tagging of criminals.
More recently, the company suspended seven employees at a juvenile correctional facility after allegations that guards used excessive force and one child was stabbed with a fork.
G4S was consistently one of the biggest contractors with the U.S. federal government after the September 11 terrorist attacks, mostly with the departments of Homeland Security and State, according to Kevin Brancato, an analyst with Bloomberg Government. The firm’s deals with the government shrank to $89.3 million in 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The company employs 611,000 people worldwide, running prisons, providing security at airports and ports, and managing cash transports, according to its website. Its U.S. headquarters are in Jupiter, Florida, about 150 miles southeast of Orlando.
“They are a considerably smaller player in the federal space than they used to be,” Brancato said, adding that the company may not have known about the FBI probes unless it was contacted directly. The FBI declined to comment on whether it had communicated with G4S about its investigations.
Born in New York to Afghan parents, Mateen was licensed as a security guard in Florida, according to state records. Mateen was married in 2009 and divorced in 2011, a woman who identified herself as Mateen’s ex-wife told the Washington Post on the condition that her name not be used.
G4S shares were priced 7.7 percent lower as of 8:53 a.m. in London, reducing the company’s market value to 2.69 billion pounds ($3.8 billion).
