Investigation into Orlando shooting continues; ‘no impending charges’ expected

ORLANDO — Authorities continued Wednesday to seek answers about the gunman who carried out a shooting rampage here, expanding the investigation to include interviews with his relatives, friends and anyone else who may have had contact with him in the months before the attack.
While the FBI said they view the shooting, which left 49 dead and dozens more injured, as a hate crime as well as an act of terrorism, officials said there were “no impending charges” in the case and declined to discuss if any were forthcoming.
The FBI confirmed it had interviewed the wife of Omar Mateen, the 29-year-old gunman. Noor Z. Salman urged her husband not to do anything the night of the attack, said one U.S. law enforcement official. But the bureau also tried to play down this element of the investigation, saying it was part of the larger work of piecing together the gunman’s movements and motivations.
A U.S. law enforcement official confirmed that Mateen posted threatening comments directed at the United States on Facebook before the attack. The account was later taken down.
“With respect to the wife,” Ronald Hopper, an FBI assistant special agent in charge, said Wednesday, “that is only one of many interviews we’re doing.”
Salman has not publicly commented on the attack, and she has not been seen since Monday night, when the Miami-based television station WSVN recorded video of the 30-year-old being escorted from her home in Fort Pierce, Fla. Her face was shrouded by the hood of her sweatshirt, and her left hand had what appeared to be a silver wedding band.