Orlando gunman’s wife may be charged
Print Edition
THE wife of the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub could face criminal charges after a federal grand jury was convened to study possible wrongdoing, a law enforcement source said yesterday.
Noor Salman knew of Omar Mateen’s plans for what became the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, the source said.
US Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which received a briefing on the investigation into Sunday’s massacre, told CNN it appeared Salman had “some knowledge” of what was going on.
“She definitely is, I guess you would say, a person of interest right now and appears to be cooperating and can provide us with some important information,” King said.
Salman was with Mateen when he cased possible targets over the past two months, including the Walt Disney World Resort in April, a shopping complex called Disney Springs and the Pulse nightclub in early June, CNN and NBC reported.
Mateen, a New York-born US citizen of Afghan heritage, was shot dead by police after a three-hour rampage through the Pulse nightclub.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer opened a support center at a city stadium yesterday for survivors and relatives of the victims.
Autopsies had been completed on all 49 dead, and about 20 bodies had been released to funeral homes, he told reporters.
Bodies could not be removed for hours after the shooting, he said, because authorities initially feared the shooter had booby trapped the club. Ultimately, no explosives were found.
“We know that it’s been traumatic for everybody, and we do know that we need to provide a lot of support,” Dyer said.
Federal investigators have said Mateen, who was 29 and worked as a security guard, was likely self-radicalized and there was no evidence he received any help or instructions from outside groups such as Islamic State.
Salman’s mother, Ekbal Zahi Salman, lives in a middle-class neighborhood in Rodeo, California, about 40 kilometers north of San Francisco. A neighbor said her daughter visited just once after she married Mateen.
Salman’s mother “didn’t like him very much. He didn’t allow her (Noor) to come here,” said Rajinder Chahal.
He said he had spoken to Salman’s mother after the Orlando attack and she “was crying, weeping.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation questioned Mateen in 2013 and 2014 for suspected ties to Islamist militants but concluded he did not pose a treat.
US officials are investigating reports that Mateen may have been gay but not openly so, and questioning whether that could have driven his attack.
Mateen’s ex-wife Sitora Yusufiy said there were facets of his life that he did not share with his family, such as drinking and going to nightclubs. She has previously said he was mentally unstable and beat her.
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