The wife of a gunman in an attack at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub last summer that left 49 patrons dead was arrested outside Oakland, Calif., on Monday morning on suspicion of obstructing investigators, according to jail records.
Noor Zahi Salman, the wife of gunman Omar Mateen, will face federal charges filed in central Florida after making an initial court appearance in Oakland scheduled for Tuesday morning, federal prosecutors said in a brief message on Twitter, not giving further information.
Documents laying out the government's case against Salman were not immediately available. But Salman faces a federal charge that is usually used against suspects who either tamper with evidence or interfere with an investigation, according to Alameda County jail records, which said Salman was arrested at 8:13 a.m. in the East Bay suburb of Dublin.
Salman had previously denied any involvement in Mateen's attack on the Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016, during which he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group. Mateen was killed in a shootout with police during the attack.
Salman had previously told The New York Times in an interview that Mateen was volatile and had often beaten her, and she had moved multiple times since the shooting to avoid public scrutiny.
"I was unaware of everything," Salman told the newspaper. "I don't condone what he has done. I am very sorry for what has happened. He has hurt a lot of people."
