WASHINGTON // The wife of the Orlando nightclub shooter, who was extensively questioned by federal agents in the days after the massacre, was arrested by the FBI on Monday in connection with the attack.
A US law enforcement official said Noor Salman was taken into custody on Monday morning in the San Francisco area and is facing charges in Florida which include obstruction of justice. A Twitter post from the US attorney’s office in Orlando said Ms Salman will make her initial appearance on Tuesday morning in the Californian city of Oakland.
Ms Salman moved to the San Francisco area after her husband, Omar Mateen, was killed in a shootout with team members during the June 12 massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
FBI agents repeatedly questioned Salman in the aftermath of the shooting about whether she had advance knowledge of her husband's plans. In a New York Times interview published in November, she said she was unaware that Mateen planned to carry out the attack.
By the time a three-hour standoff between Mateen and law enforcement had ended, 49 patrons of the nightclub had been killed and another 53 people required hospitalisation.
Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIL in a 911 call to emergency officials during the standoff.
Last month, Ms Salman filed a petition in a California court to change the name of the son she had with Mateen.
* Associated Press
