Wife of Pulse Gunman Said He Told Her 'This is My Target' in Detailed Statement

Noor Salman, Omar Mateen
Noor Salman, Omar Mateen

Her trial is set to begin in March.

The wife of Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen told the FBI hours after the June 2016 massacre that she knew her husband was planning "to do something bad,” according to authorities.

In a newly released court document, Noor Salman said Mateen told her “this is my target” beforehand in reference to the Pulse Nightclub where 49 were left dead on June 12, 2016 after Mateen opened fire inside.

Salman gave a 12-page statement to police, hours after the shooting, and it was released late last month in the case against her. 

Federal prosecutors allege that Salman knew about the sick plot prior to the mass shooting and even helped him scout out the nightclub ahead of time.

Salman said Mateen carried out the attack in the name of ISIS in the statement.

“My fears had come true and he did what he said he was going to do. I was in denial and I could not believe that the father of my child was going to hurt other people,” she wrote after finding out what her husband had done.

But, Salman also claimed Mateen abused her.  Her statement detailed how Mateen was obsessed with watching beheading videos and would do so in front of their children.

She also told authorities that a week before the shooting she and Mateen drove around Pulse nightclub for 20 minutes, according to reports.

Salman also apologized in the statement for "not (being) truthful in the start about what Omar was planning."

Salman’s attorneys have denied her involvement in the mass shooting at the LGBT nightclub, however. Mateen was killed in a police shootout after the attacks.

Salman, 31, is charged with aiding and abetting a foreign terrorist organization and obstruction of justice. She was arrested seven months after the shootings.

Her attorneys complained last year in court that she was interrogated by the FBI for 18 hours without an attorney present and that she didn't know about the attack, NBCNews reported.

A federal judge on Wednesday denied her attorneys' request to move the trial to another location, saying they failed to prove the process wouldn't be fair in Florida.

Her trial is set to begin in March.

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