FBI Continues Investigation: Did Noor Salman Know About the Mass Attack Plan?

The wife of the attacker on the Orlando club, during which 49 people were killed and 53 injured, could face criminal charges if the FBI investigation shows she knew Mateen was planning the attack, the British Guardian reports, NAP conveys.

Noor Zahi Salman reportedly told agents that she was trying to dissuade her husband, Omar Mateen, from attacking the nightclub, which is considered the deadliest mass shooting in American history.

Chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence Peter King told MSNBC after a closed-door briefing on Tuesday:

- If it turns out to be true that she knew about it and tried to dissuade him, then measures will be taken against her, with the possibility that she might have been more involved – all of that needs to be investigated, King stated.

- The possibility that Mateen (29) was not working alone but had the support of other individuals or groups is now the focus of the FBI investigation. If there is anyone else he worked with, who he talked to about this, who knew about this, the investigation is now dealing with that, King added.

Using an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a pistol, Mateen opened fire in the club early Sunday morning, holding hostages for the next three hours and killing indiscriminately until he was taken down by a SWAT team. The final autopsy of the 49 victims was completed on Tuesday.

Citing an official police source, Reuters claims that Salman could be charged as early as Wednesday.

Senator Angus King, a member of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN:

- It appears Salman had knowledge of what was happening. She is now a person of interest, she seems to be cooperating, and she can provide us with significant information.

NBC reported that Mateen's wife tried to dissuade the attacker from the planned terror, and that she was with him when he bought ammunition and a holster. She told the FBI that she had driven him to the club on one occasion because he wanted to scout it.

Based on data from Mateen's phone, the FBI will try to determine if he had visited the club before, writes the Associated Press. Reports also suggest that in the last two years, Mateen visited websites containing Islamist militant content.

New findings also indicate the possibility that Mateen had doubts about his own sexual orientation.

Mateen's ex-wife Sitora Yusufiy told CNN that she did not know if he was gay, but added:

- After we got married, he admitted his past to me and that he really liked visiting clubs and nightlife, and he had many photos from that period. I think that's his side or part of him that he lived through but didn't want everyone to know about.

Interviewed twice by the FBI, Mateen was on a government watchlist of potential terrorists for 10 months before being removed.