Sitora Yusufiy, Mateen’s first wife, said during a press conference on Sunday that she believes Mateen suffered from mental illness.
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“I am not going to speculate as to any charges that might be brought or indeed as to whether any charges might be brought in this case”, said Lee Bentley, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. Smith and his husband, Chris Callen, also spoke to The Canadian Post and said they had seen Mateen at Pulse multiple times.
The focus of the investigation into Sunday’s deadly hate crime which targeted a Latin night at Pulse has shifted to Omar Mateen’s wife, Noor Zahi Salman, who may have known about her disturbed husband’s deadly plans.
“America and Russian Federation stop bombing the Islamic state.I pledge my alliance to [Islamic State leader] abu bakr al Baghdadi.may Allah accept me”, Mateen reportedly wrote in one post.
A motive for the shooting is still unclear.
Meanwhile, two men have now come forward to claim having communicated with Mateen on gay dating apps.
Afghan-born Seddique Mateen gave little insight into how his son acquired weapons or how he became radicalized.
Around 5 a.m., authorities broke down a wall and exchanged gunfire with Mateen, who had taken hostages.
He also condemned “the filthy ways of the west”, and USA airstrikes that kill “innocent wommen and children”.
Mateen had asked him out, the classmate, who did not want to be named, told local television in Orlando.
Meanwhile, another report said that Mateen – an avowed ISIS supporter who died in a shootout with cops – was an excellent marksman who racked up near-perfect scores on Florida firearms tests. He also called an Orlando television news station during the attack and said he pledged allegiance to ISIS.
It was possible that Mateen had called his wife from inside the club while the killings were taking place, Fox quoted a source as saying.
Chris Callen, another Pulse customer, told the Sentinel he’d seen Mateen in the nightclub and had witnessed his violent outbursts.
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Johnson also said his staff learned that Mateen searched for information on the San Bernardino shooters in May, and searched for “Baghdadi Speech” on June 4.
