Federal prosecutors convene grand jury to investigate wife of Orlando massacre gunman
Federal prosecutors have convened a grand jury to investigate the wife of the Orlando nightclub shooter, seeking to charge her as an accessory to 49 counts of murder and 53 counts of attempted murder as well as with failure to notify law enforcement about the pending terrorist attack and lying to federal agents, a federal law enforcement source confirmed Tuesday to FoxNews.com.
FBI agents have interviewed Omar Mateen’s wife, Noor Salman, in the days since Sunday’s massacre that killed 49 and wounded 53 more.
A federal law enforcement source additionally told Fox News that Salman knew of her husband’s deadly plans and did nothing to stop him.
Mateen died in a shootout with police early Sunday morning. While Salman has been widely referred to as Mateen’s wife, the only proof of their marriage is her listing as his wife on a 2013 mortgage document and family members who said the two were married and had a 3-year-old son.
Salman told investigators that Mateen shared his plans with her to carry out an attack and Mateen may have even called her from the gay club Pulse during the slaughter, a source told Fox News. Salman also confirmed details of Mateen’s gun purchases prior to the assault.
A separate source told Fox News that Salman was cooperating with investigators and had shared information about her husband’s violent aspirations. She had taken a polygraph, CBS reported.
Salman is likely to be arrested, a source told Fox News.
Mateen allegedly scouted an alternate location for the shooting — Downtown Disney — in April and again in early June, CBS reported.