Fire set at mosque once attended by Pulse nightclub shooter

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Someone set fire to the mosque once attended by Omar Mateen, the man who opened fire at an Orlando nightclub in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, authorities said today. No one was injured.

It happened a day after Americans commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and also coincided with the beginning of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha. However, Maj. David Thompson of the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office declined to speculate on whether the arson was tied to 9/11 anniversary.

The sheriff's office said on its official Facebook page that surveillance video shows someone approaching the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce around 12:30 a.m. today, moments before a flash was seen and the fire started. The fire was put out, but there was no word on how much damage it caused.

Later this morning, a hole could be seen in the roof, with burned wood underneath and soot on some of the eaves. Outside, however, the structure appeared intact.

About 30 investigators were still at the mosque after 9 a.m. The mosque is on a fairly busy two-lane road in a mostly residential neighborhood. Two doors down, the Midway Road Baptist Church has a sign out front advertising a Sunday morning biker chapel and a Korean service.