Anthony Westbury, Nicole Rodriguez, Elliot Jones

USA TODAY Network - Florida

A former Fort Pierce police officer who once worked with 29-year-old Omar Mateen, the assailant in an Orlando nightclub shooting that left at least 50 dead, said he was "unhinged and unstable."

Daniel Gilroy said he worked the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift with G4S Security at the south gate at PGA Village for several months in 2014-15. Mateen took over from him for a 3 to 11 p.m. shift.

Gilroy, a former Fort Pierce police officer, said Mateen frequently made homophobic and racial comments. Gilroy said he complained to his employer several times but it did nothing because he was Muslim. Gilroy quit after he said Mateen began stalking him via multiple text messages — 20 or 30 a day. He also sent Gilroy 13 to 15 phone messages a day, he said.

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"I quit because everything he said was toxic," Gilroy said Sunday, "and the company wouldn't do anything. This guy was unhinged and unstable. He talked of killing people."

Gilroy said this shooting didn't come as a surprise to him.

PGA Village resident Eleanora Dorsi, however, recognized Mateen's face as a friendly one who guarded her gated community in western Port St. Lucie.

"Whenever I saw him, he was very polite," Dorsi said Sunday from her summer home in Connecticut. "He was always a gentleman."

Dorsi, who has lived in the community since 2011, estimated that she saw Mateen a dozen times through the years, but he left a big impression on her because of his chivalry, she said.

"He even helped me with the car once, so I can't say he was creepy," she said.

Mateen helped her work the windshield cleaning function in her new car one time, she said.

Dorsi frequently gave Mateen and other guards at PGA Village pizza, cookies and candy for their hard work, she said. The last time she saw Mateen was a year ago, Dorsi said.

"He was always smiling and just seemed like a very nice, positive person," Dorsi said.

It sent chills down Dorsi's spine to imagine the man charged with keeping her and other locals safe carried out the deadliest mass shooting in the nation's history, she said.

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"You would never ever think that he would have done anything like this," Dorsi said. "Scary, scary. Very scary. I think everyone feels like that right now," she added. "It hits too close to home."

.Mateen has multiple ties to the Treasure Coast area of Florida.

Mateen, born in New York, lived in an apartment complex in the 2500 block of South 19th Street in Fort Pierce. Law enforcement was at the complex Sunday.

He also received mail at his parents’ home in the 900 block of Southwest Bayshore Boulevard in Port St. Lucie. Law enforcement remained at the home Sunday with his family.

He received degrees in science in 2006 and 2007 from Indian River State College. However, further details about how long he attended the school were unavailable.

He attended his freshamn year of high school at Martin County High School. It's unclear whether he attended MCHS after that.

Mateen married Sitora Yusufiy of Port St. Lucie in 2009, according to court documents. They divorced two years later in 2011, St. Lucie County court records show.

Mateen has no state criminal record, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records.

Imam Muhammad Musri, the president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, urged restraint in the hours and days following the attack in Orlando.

"I want to also caution many of the media from rushing to judgment," he said. "We are mourning. We are sad. We are heartbroken, and it's not really time to...rush to judgment."

The Imam went on to say:

“We condemn the person who did this, whatever ideology he had. No lives should be lost because of anger and hate.”

Musri, who is also president of American Islam, said he does no know what could be done for what seems like one mass shooting after another.

“I condemn all acts of terrorism, especially those done in the name of my faith,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking to see this in my beloved city of Orlando. We’re in mourning.”