Role of Orlando killer’s wife investigated
RODEO, Calif. — She was a sweet, pretty California girl with Palestinian roots who left an arranged marriage only to find love with a man who committed the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Details have begun to emerge about 30-year-old Noor Zahi Salman, who grew up in Rodeo, Calif., 40 kilometres northeast of San Francisco.
Her romance with Omar Mateen began online, a neighbour said, and they were married on Sept. 29, 2011. The couple has a three-year-old son.
The 29-year-old Mateen opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando Sunday, leaving 49 people dead and 53 wounded.
Authorities believe Mateen’s wife knew about the plot ahead of time, said an official who requested anonymity, and news sources reported Wednesday that officials have turned to a grand jury to help investigate the shooting, looking at Salman’s actions specifically.
At a news conference, however, U.S. Attorney Lee Bentley repeatedly refused to say whether any charges might be brought against anyone.
Three people identifying themselves as FBI agents visited Salman’s childhood home in Rodeo on Tuesday and spoke with her mother, said Jessie Rojas, a next-door neighbour.
Marriage documents on file in the Contra Costa County Recorder’s office show Salman was born in the United States while her parents’ birthplaces are listed as “Palestine.”
No one answered the door at the Salman home Tuesday.
Jasbinder Chahal, who has lived across the street from Salman’s childhood home for 15 years, said Salman is “very nice ... not the smartest, but she was beautiful.”
Salman’s marriage to Mateen was her second, Chahal said.
Salman’s first marriage was arranged in the Palestinian Territories by her parents, said Chahal.
Investigators have spoken extensively with Salman and are working to establish whether she recently accompanied Mateen to the nightclub.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said Wednesday that Mateen drove around the area Saturday night, going from one place to another, before he opened fire at the nightspot about 2 a.m. Sunday.