Orlando gunman’s wife tried talking him out of attack

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said at a press conference that shooter falsely told negotiators that he was strapping explosives onto four hostages, and club-goers trapped inside thought he had explosive vests, based on texts they sent and remarks to 911 dispatchers.

When asked exactly where Mateen visited, and whether the locations included theme parks as reported in news accounts, Dyer said, “I think it’s been pretty accurately depicted on the news”.

The development was first reported Tuesday by NBC News.

He said he had no idea his U.S.-born son became radicalized but said if he “had control” of Omar the attack “would not have happened in a million years”. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Johnson did not say how he learned of the posts other than to cite “information obtained by my staff”.

On June 12, 2016, Mateen apparently searched for “Pulse Orlando” and “Shooting”.Mateen also apparently posted “America and Russian Federation stop bombing the Islamic State…I pledge my alliance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi…may Allah accept me”. A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not immediately return a call for comment, and Facebook had no immediate comment.

The three-hour rampage began at 2 a.m. Sunday and ended with Mateen being killed by a police SWAT team.

The producer who spoke to the shooter said that Mateen also proclaimed he was carrying out the massacre on behalf of the terror group.

The gunman who killed 49 people at a gay club in the US this week wrote a series of Facebook posts about the “filthy ways of the West” before and during the shooting rampage, a top US Senator has said and asked the founder of the social networking site to assist in the probe. Further counseling is being made available.

“I am from Afghanistan but I’ve been here long enough, my country has been affected by terrorism… on a 24-hour basis”, Mateen said. “No one can prepare you for what those officers encountered that night”.

It’s alleged his friend is now being interviewed by authorities about the nature of their call.

A key topic for investigators is how much Mateen’s Palestinian-American wife may have known about the plot.

CBS News reports that according to law enforcement sources, Salman told authorities she believed Mateen might have been planning an attack at Pulse because she drove him to the club to scope it out and said she also went with him to buy ammunition and a holster.

“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.

“She definitely is, I guess you would say, a person of interest right now and appears to be cooperating and can provide us with some important information”, he told CNN.

Ms Salman has been in seclusion for days.