G4S share price falls to eight-year low as it emerges it had employed Orlando killer Omar Mateen for nearly a decade
Shares in London-listed security outsourcer G4S fell 6.4 per cent in early trading after it emerged the company had employed Omar Mateen, the man accused of killing 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Shares in the company, which employs 618,000 people, fell to 175.1p, its lowest since March 2008, after it emerged Mateen had worked for the company since 2007. In a recent posting he was employed to guard a gated retirement community in Port St Lucie, south of Orlando.
Some 50 people were killed during the shooting, with another 50 injured. G4S said Mateen was not on duty at the time of the incident.
In a statement last night, G4S said it was "shocked and saddened" by the shooting.
"We are cooperating fully with all law enforcement authorities, including the FBI, as they conduct their investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the friends, families and people affected by this unspeakable tragedy."
It emerged overnight that New York-born Mateen had been questioned twice by the FBI, and had been on a terrorist watch list. It also emerged that he had recently bought an assault rifle and a handgun legally.