Mateen had a phone conversation while he was in the store and appeared to be speaking in Arabic, Mr. Abell said. Mateen was also texting while he was in the store, Mr. Abell said.

“The questions he was asking were not the normal questions a normal person would be asking…He just seemed very odd,” said Mr. Abell.

Mr. Abell said he believed the store was within its rights to turn away Mr. Mateen. “If something is suspicious, it’s our discretion,” he said. “We are the gatekeeper.”

Mr. Abell added that the store had been given a “heads up” earlier by law-enforcement authorities to be on the lookout for “suspicious people.” Mr. Abell wouldn’t specify which authorities.