Omar Mateen, right, with his wife, Noor Zahi Salman, and their son. (Facebook)
Orlando terror attack gunman Omar Mateen was married to a 30-year-old woman, the mother of his young son, according to public records.
Mateen had lived in St. Lucie County, Florida, with his second wife, Noor Zahi Salman, but it is not clear if they were together or separated at the time of the shooting.
Police say Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 others at Pulse, a gay nightclub, early Sunday morning.
A federal grand jury has been convened to investigate Salman after she told the FBI she knew of her husband’s plans and did not report him, according to Fox News.
Here’s what you need to know about Salman and Mateen:
1. Salman Told the FBI She Drove Mateen to Pulse on Another Occassion & Tried to Talk Him Out of the Attack
Omar Mateen. (MySpace)
Omar Mateen, 29, and Noor Zahi Salman, 30, have been married since at least 2013, according to a mortgage document. They have a 3-year-old son together.
The status of their relationship is not clear. The Washington Post reports that it appears Salman had left Mateen prior to the shooting. But other reports indicate they were living together, and photos from their Fort Pierce apartment, obtained by the Daily Mail, show photos of the couple together.
Salman told the FBI she drove Mateen to a the Pulse nightclub on a different occasion and she tried to talk him out of the attack, NBC News reports.
Officials told NBC News they are considering filing criminal charges against her for failing to report her husband’s plans, but a decision on that has not yet been made. Sources also told the news network that she told the FBI she was with Mateen when he bought ammunition and a holster.
The previous trip to the gay nightclub was because he wanted to see it in advance, officials told NBC.
Seddique Mateen, the gunman’s father, told reporters he doesn’t think Salman was involved:
Salman and Mateen also went to Disney World with their son in April, and the FBI is investigating whether he was scouting the major tourist attraction as a possible target, Fox News reports.
They went again in early June, visiting Disney Springs, an outdoor shopping district formerly known as Downtown Disney that also includes restaurants and other entertainment venues.
2. Mateen Was Angry After Seeing 2 Gay Men Kissing in Front of His Wife & Their 3-Year-Old Boy, His Father Says
(MySpace)
Mateen’s father has claimed that the 29-year-old gunman had been angry after seeing two gay men kissing in front of his 3-year-old son.
“We were in downtown Miami, Bayside, people were playing music. And he saw two men kissing each other in front of his wife and kid and he got very angry,” Seddique Mateen, Omar’s father, told NBC News. “They were kissing each other and touching each other and he said, ‘Look at that. In front of my son they are doing that.'”
But some have expressed doubt about those claims and say Mateen may have been gay himself.
A former police academy classmate at Indian River Community College, who was not named, told the Palm Beach Post that Mateen asked him out romantically. He said he believed Mateen was gay, but not open about it.
“We went to a few gay bars with him, and I was not out at the time, so I declined his offer,” the anonymous classmate told the newspaper.
Mateen’s father told the Palm Beach Post his son was not gay. “If he was gay, why would he do something like this?” Seddique Mateen asked the reporter.
Others have said Mateen frequented Pulse, the gay nightclub he attacked Sunday morning. According to WESH-TV, he took a “selfie” in Pulse at one point.
Ty Smith and Chris Callen, a married couple who both perform as drag queens, told The Canadian Press they remember seeing Mateen at Pulse.
“It’s the same guy,” Callen, who performs under the name Kristina McLaughlin, said. “He’s been going to this bar for at least three years.”
They said he would sit alone sometimes and get drunk, and mentioned that he had a wife and son.
3. Salman’s Family Is From Afghanistan & She Grew Up in California
A Bomb Disposal Unit checks for explosives around the apartment building where shooting suspect Omar Mateen is believed to have lived on June 12, 2016 in Fort Pierce, Florida. (Getty)
Salman has lived in California and Illinois, and attended the now-defunct Heald College-Concord in California. She is from the San Francisco area.
She has three sisters and lived in Rodeo, California, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
Salman has deleted her social media profiles, including her Facebook page, in the wake of the shooting.
She is cooperating with the investigation, according to NBC News.
Salman was seen Monday night for the first time since the attack, retrieving belongings from her Fort Pierce apartment, according to WSVN-TV reporter Brian Entin.
VIDEO:Omar Mateen’s wife seen for first time since Orlando massacre. Just one station there-more in the AM on @wsvn
It appears Mateen’s son also in back seat of car. Cops say they’re here to get belongings after FBI search @wsvn
Man with Mateen’s wife not answering questions & neither is she.Locksmith w/ them shocked to learn who she is @wsvn
Salman did not respond to requests for comment from Heavy.com and also declined to speak to other news outlets and reporters at her home.
4. Mateen Was Briefly Married to a Woman From New Jersey Before Salman
Sitora Yusufiy pictured on her Facebook page.
Mateen was previously married to Sitora Yusufiy, a New Jersey woman, in 2009. Their marriage ended after only a few months when she left him. They were officially divorced in 2011.
In an interview with Heavy.com, Yusufiy said that she lived in Florida with Mateen between April 2009 and August 2009. She said that her parents then “rescued” her from the relationship and she never saw Mateen again. The divorce process took two years because of the long distance.
She posted a message to Facebook after the shootings, “Great Spirit I offer my deepest prayer and condolences to the victims of the Orlando shooting…May they transition in peace may their souls be healed, may the wounded victims recover and heal in peace, may the families and loved ones heal and find their peace….Archangel Michael Please protect us from suffering and the suffered…. Please protect us from hate, violence, anger and instability…. Amen.”
5. His Ex-Wife Says Mateen Was Abusive & His Current Wife’s Family Says He Didn’t Let Her Return Home
Omar Mateen. (MySpace)
Mateen’s ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, who now lives in Colorado, said Mateen was abusive during their brief relationship.
“He was not a stable person. He beat me,” she told the Washington Post. “He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn’t finished or something like that…He seemed like a normal human being. He was a very private person.”
She said her parents “literally saved her life” when they rescued her from the Florida condo she shared with Mateen.
The family of Mateen’s second wife, Salman, told the San Jose Mercury News that she was rarely allowed to return home after marrying him.
“Her mother would always complain that the husband did not let her visit the family,” neighbor Sarwan Kaur told the newspaper.
She only returned home once, when her father died, according to the neighbor.