Orlando nightclub gunman wrote Facebook threat before attack

Of particular interest, according to a New York Times report, is Mateen’s wife, Noor Zahi Salman, who had driven her husband to the nightclub sometime before the attack, according to an unnamed senior law enforcement official. She told the Federal Bureau of Investigation that she once drove him to the gay nightclub, Pulse, because he wanted to scope it out. She also once drove him to the nightclub because he wanted to see it in advance, the officials said.

Mateen opened fire at Pulse early Sunday, leaving 49 dead and 53 injured.

Now, the sources tell NPR’s Dina Temple-Raston that a grand jury is looking into what Mateen’s wife, Noor Salman, might have known about his plans to target Pulse and whether she should face charges in connection to the attack.

“Law enforcement is talking to everyone associated with the shooter”, said Mr. Bentley, declining to say whether Ms. Salman is cooperating with investigators.

Authorities investigating the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida are taking a closer look at the killer’s wife.

Sediqque Mir Mateen had previously claimed that his son had got angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami two months before Sunday’s attack.

Friends and co-workers have described Omar Mateen as homophobic and “mentally unstable”, while his ex-wife said he was violent and had bipolar disorder.

Satellite data from Mateen’s cell phone shows that he visited Disney Springs, a shopping mall connected to Disney World, on Saturday night – hours before carrying out his massacre on Pulse.

The 29-year-old was a United States citizen, born in NY to Afghan immigrant parents.

The claims come in the aftermath of the worst mass-shooting in USA history which left 49 people dead and at least 53 injured.

Soon after the attack, Mateen’s father indicated that his son had strong anti-gay feelings. “I recognized him from one of the apps but I instantly blocked him because, like, he was very creepy in his messages”.

However, another source who spoke with Reuters disputed the idea that Mateen was a regular visitor to Pulse.

“I don’t believe he was a – whatever you call it”, he said. Another witness told MSNBC that he recognized Mateen from the gay dating app Grindr.