Pulse Shooter's Wife: I Knew He Was Going To Attack Nightclub

Just hours after the deadly shooting massacre at the Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen’s wife, Noor Salman was questioned by the FBI. According to reports, Salman hand-wrote a 12-page statement providing specific details of the attack.

Salman's statement was quietly released in a batch of records from the case at the end of December 2017.

Via USA Today:

The 12-page statement, quietly released by federal authorities at the end of December in a batch of records in the case, was taken hours after the June 12, 2016 shooting. The attack left 49 dead and dozens of others injured.

Noor Salman was questioned for hours, without a lawyer, after authorities learned her husband was the gunman behind the attack.

She was arrested last year on federal charges of providing material support to a terrorist and tampering with evidence but has pleaded not guilty, claiming she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. She said Mateen abused her and claims she did not know of his plot.

But her defense conflicts with the signed statement she gave to the FBI, which details her knowledge of Mateen's planning and his path to carry out an attack on behalf of the Islamic State.

She told agents multiple times she knew his plans and that he was going to attack the Orlando club when he left their home.

On June 12, 2016, Salman's husband killed 49 people at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. He was eventually shot and killed by police after a three-hour standoff.

Salman faces charges of aiding a foreign terrorist organization and obstruction of justice.

In her written statement, Salman told investigators:

• Mateen bought a rifle just days before the attack. When she saw it in his car trunk he told her not to say "anything to anybody."

• Driving by heavily populated areas like Disney World and Pulse Nightclub, he told her, "How upset are people going to be when it gets attacked?"

• Two days before the massacre Salman noticed Mateen looking at the Pulse Nightclub's website. When she asked what he was doing, he replied, "This is my target."

• The night before the shooting Mateen was "pumped up" wearing a handgun in a holster and a backpack full of ammunition. "I knew when he left the house he was going to Orlando to attack the Pulse nightclub," she wrote.

Las Vegas: More Than 50 Dead, Over 400 Injured In Mandalay Bay Shooting

Stephen Paddock

From the New York Times:

A gunman on a high floor of a Las Vegas hotel rained a rapid-fire barrage on a huge outdoor concert festival on Sunday night, killing more than 50 people, injuring hundreds of others, and sending thousands of terrified survivors fleeing for cover, in one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history.

Online video of the attack near the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino showed the singer Jason Aldean performing outside at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, a three-day country music event, interrupted by the sound of automatic gunfire. The music stopped, and as victims fell, bleeding, concertgoers screamed, ducked for cover, or ran.

“Get down,” one shouted. “Stay down,” screamed another.

“Currently the Clark County Fire Department is estimating the injuries to be well over 400” Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said on Monday morning. One of those killed was an off-duty Las Vegas police officer, the department said.

He said there were about 22,000 people at the concert.

SWAT units swarmed the upper floors of the Mandalay Bay, closing in on the source of the shooting, a 32nd-floor room where they found the gunman, with “in excess of 10 rifles,” the sheriff said. “We believe the individual killed himself prior to our entry.”

The first reports of the shooting came at 10:08 p.m. local time, and officers overheard on police radio reported being pinned down by gunfire. Shortly before midnight the Las Vegas police reported that “one suspect is down,” and soon after the police said they did not believe there were any more active gunmen.

The sheriff identified the gunman as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nev., who had no significant prior criminal history.

At least 50 dead as Mandalay Bay Las Vegas shooting becomes worst in U.S. history https://t.co/5yEz2R8C8I pic.twitter.com/VFcoZY4EAg

— TIME (@TIME) October 2, 2017

Video shows concertgoers huddling while a gunman opens fire from the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/FBKLrsNNdH

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 2, 2017

Witness footage captures the harrowing moment a gunman opens fire during the Las Vegas shooting. Latest updates: https://t.co/g1JMfLQccV pic.twitter.com/JHod2F3zjj

— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 2, 2017

“Not an avid gun guy at all...where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background,” gunman’s brother says pic.twitter.com/EMSKLQGYFM

— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 2, 2017

Charleston: Dylann Roof Sentenced To Death For Mass Church Massacre

Charleston shooter Dylann Roof, who killed nine people in a June 2015 church shooting, has been sentenced to death.

Via the New York Times:

Dylann S. Roof, the unrepentant and inscrutable white supremacist who killed nine African-American churchgoers in a brazen racial rampage almost 19 months ago, an outburst of extremist violence that shocked the nation, was condemned to death by a federal jury on Tuesday.

The jury of nine whites and three blacks, who last month found Mr. Roof guilty of 33 counts for the attack at this city’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, returned their unanimous verdict after about three hours of deliberations in the penalty phase of a heart-rending and often legally confounding trial.

Mr. Roof, who had said in a closing argument hours earlier that he could ask jurors “to give me a life sentence, but I’m not sure what good that would do,” showed no expression as Judge Richard M. Gergel of Federal District Court announced the verdict.

Tulsa Police Officer Charged With Manslaughter In Shooting Death Of Terence Crutcher

Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby

Yahoo News has the details:

Prosecutors in Tulsa, Oklahoma, charged a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man on a city street with first-degree manslaughter Thursday.

Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler filed the charges against officer Betty Shelby, who shot and killed 40-year-old Terence Crutcher on Sept. 16. Dashcam and aerial footage of the shooting and its aftermath showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby with his arms in the air.

The footage does not offer a clear view of when Shelby fired the single shot that killed Crutcher. Her attorney has said Crutcher was not following police commands and that Shelby opened fire when the man began to reach into his SUV window.

But Crutcher's family immediately discounted that claim, saying the father of four posed no threat to the officers, and police said Crutcher did not have gun on him or in his vehicle.

ICYMI, here's the helicopter view of the incident:

Trump Campaign Defends Trump Tweet About Death Of NBA Star's Cousin

Donald Trump's campaign manager sought to tamp down criticism of Donald Trump's insensitive tweet Saturday which looked to capitalize on the shooting death of NBA star Dwyane Wade's cousin.

From The Hill:

"He tweeted his condolences to the family right after that," Kellyanne Conway said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

"I would like everybody to know about both tweets, because I think it's incredibly important for all of us to come together in a very nonpartisan fashion and express our condolences to families like the Wade family and also our outrage that things like this can happen."

Trump on Saturday faced backlash over his tweet about Nykea Aldridge, who was caught in crossfire and shot in the head and arm while leaving a school in Chicago.

"Dwayne [sic] Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!" he tweeted.
He later posted another tweet expressing his condolences to the family.

Conway says Trump tweeted his condolences "right after" the first tweet, but that's not accurate.

If you check the time stamps on the original tweet and then the "condolences" tweet they were four hours apart. The first was sent at 6:24AM, the second at 10:48AM.

It took Trump more than four hours to realize how heartless he appeared. And more importantly, "condolences" weren't his first impulse.

By the way, Trump couldn't even manage to spell Dwyane Wade's name correctly in his original tweet.

#Sad #Loser

Orlando: Mass Shooting At Gay Nightclub Leaves 50 Dead, 53 Hospitalized

Omar Mateen

A man identified as Omar Marteen went on a deadly shooting spree at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, last night killing 50 and leaving 53 more hospitalized.

The shooting incident began at 2AM with approximately 320 people in the club.

It is officially the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States.

Mateen — who was armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle and a handgun, according to Orlando’s police chief — entered Pulse club around 2 a.m. Sunday morning and began shooting. After most of the 320 people there escaped, Mateen took hostages from a group that was hiding in a bathroom. Shortly before 6 a.m., a SWAT unit breached the club and engaged Mateen in what’s being called a protracted gun battle. Mateen was killed.

The police classified the attack as a “terror incident. The police and the federal authorities said they were pursuing several angles in the terrorism investigation, both overseas and in the United States.

The shooting was clearly a hate crime meant to target LGBT people, and is being investigated as an act of terrorism.

NBC News reports:

Law enforcement sources told NBC News that Mateen was born in New York in 1986 and was listed as living at a residence in Port St. Lucie, about 125 miles south of Orlando. The incident is being investigated as an act of terrorism, officials said.

Mir Seddique, Mateen’s father told NBC News, “this has nothing to do with religion.” Seddique said his son got angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago and thinks that may be related to the shooting.

“We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident. We weren’t aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country,” Seddique said.

According to CNN, the terrorist called 911 about the attack, pledged allegiance to ISIS and mentioned the Boston bombers, according to a U.S. official.

Equality Florida, the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization is collecting contributions via a GoFundMe page to support the victims of the horrific shooting at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub. Please contribute and share this page.

We are reeling from the tragic news that a gunman opened fire on the 2am capacity crowd at Pulse leaving 20 people dead and 42 injured according to preliminary reports. We are heartbroken and angry that senseless violence has once again destroyed lives in our state and in our country.

Gay clubs hold a significant place in LGBTQ history. They were often the only safe gathering place and this horrific act strikes directly at our sense of safety. June commemorates our community standing up to anti-LGBTQ violence at the Stonewall Inn, the nightclub that has become the first LGBTQ site recognized as a national monument.

​We have received a steady stream of emails and messages from those seeking to help or to make sense of the senseless. We make no assumptions on motive. We will await the details in tears of sadness and anger. We stand in solidarity and keep our thoughts on all whose lives have been lost or altered forever in this tragedy.

President Barack Obama will address the nation about the terror attack in Orlando at 1:30pmET from the White House briefing room.

BREAKING: "There are 50 casualties" in Orlando mass shooting, @orlandomayor says https://t.co/J54RiATgwT https://t.co/qDCFEuIuqh

— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 12, 2016

New York Times: Tamir Rice Would Be Alive Today If He Had Been White

The New York Times editorial board condemns the shooting death of Cleveland teen Tamir Rice and the Cleveland officials who declined to charge the officer in the fatal shooting.

Tamir Rice of Cleveland would be alive today had he been a white 12-year-old playing with a toy gun in just about any middle-class neighborhood in the country on the afternoon of Nov. 22, 2014.

But Tamir, who was shot to death by a white police officer that day, had the misfortune of being black in a poor area of Cleveland, where the police have historically behaved as an occupying force that shoots first and asks questions later.

[snip]

The Police Department’s disregard for life was fully evident in the way the officers behaved after shooting Tamir. A surveillance video shows them standing by the child for four minutes without giving medical assistance, which was finally provided by an F.B.I. agent who happened to be in the neighborhood. Officer Frank Garmback, Officer Loehmann’s partner, nonetheless tackled the wounded boy’s 14-year-old sister as she tried to rush to his side. One can only imagine her suffering as she watched in handcuffs from the back seat of the squad car while her brother lay bleeding on the ground.

In addition to portraying the killing as a result of a tragic misunderstanding, prosecutors have also suggested the officer’s decision to kill Tamir was shaped by the fact that the surrounding neighborhood had a history of violence and that the boy appeared to be older than 12 because he was big for his age.

These arguments sidestep the history of violent, discriminatory police actions that led up to this boy’s death. They also have the reprehensible effect of shifting the responsibility for this death onto the shoulders of this very young victim.

It's worth noting that since the officer involved in the shooting said Tamir "looked" 18 years old, and Ohio is an open carry state, why did he assume Tamir was a danger and shoot within seconds of arriving on the scene?

And where is the NRA defending the "right" of a person perceived to be an adult to carry a weapon in a state with open carry laws?

If Tamir had been a white teenage girl, he would be alive today. Period.

Ohio: Grand Jury Declines To Indict Police For Shooting 12-Year-Old Tamir Rice

Ohio prosecutor Tim McGinty announces no charges for police who shot and killed 12 year old Tamir Rice

From CNN:

An Ohio grand jury has decided not to return an indictment in the 2014 police shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, prosecutor Tim McGinty said Monday.

Rice was holding a pellet gun when he was shot. It was "reasonable" to believe that the officer who killed the boy was facing a threat, McGinty said.

The officer was in training outside a Cleveland recreation center in November 2014. The shooting sparked controversy given Tamir's age and the fact that he had a gun that resembled a handgun.

McGinty called Rice's killing an "absolute tragedy."

"But it was not, by the law that binds us, a crime," he said. He said he has "heard the chants" that cry for justice for the boy.

"We too want justice for Tamir," he said. But it would not be justice to bring charges against the officers involved in the shooting if those charges "could not be sustained."That, however, "doesn't mean the legal system is done," he said. The civil courts may provide some accountability to the boy's family "that they deserve," McGinty said.

The shooting of a child should "never happen again," he said, and he urged that toy gun manufacturers stop making their products look so much like real guns.

Tamir had been playing near the swings of a recreation center near his home when he was shot on November 22. He died a day later.

Cincinnati: Body Cam Video Released In Connection To Shooting Death Of Samuel DuBose

WARNING: This video contains graphic content. Watch the full bodycam footage of the shooting incident that resulted in the death of Samuel Dubose on July 19th.
Posted by msnbc on Wednesday, July 29, 2015

University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing was indicted Wednesday on a murder charge for fatally shooting Samuel DuBose during a traffic stop July 19.

Samuel DuBose was stopped for not having a front license plate.

The footage above is from Officer Tensing's body cam.

Things escalate at about the 2:15 mark.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters issued this statement after releasing the body cam video to the public: "It's an absolute tragedy that anyone would behave in this manner. It was senseless. It's just horrible. He purposefully killed him."

Officer Tensing originally said DuBose tried to run him down and he feared he would get "sucked up under the car."

Read more about the case here.

South Carolina Church Shooter Admits He Wanted "To Start A Race War"

According to CNN, Dylann Roof, the 21 year old gunman who shot and killed nine at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Wednesday night, told investigators that he wanted to start a race war.

One survivor of the incident said that Roof responded to a man's pleas to stop shooting by saying, "No, you've raped our women, and you are taking over the country ... I have to do what I have to do."

His roommate told ABC News that Roof was "big into segregation." And the Berkeley County, South Carolina, government tweeted a picture of him wearing a jacket with flags from apartheid-era South Africa and nearby Rhodesia, a former British colony that was ruled by a white minority until it became independent in 1980.

By telling authorities his aim, Roof admitted he attacked unarmed civilians for political purposes in an act of terror.

John Mullins recalls "racist slurs in a sense" that Roof made while the two attended White Knoll High School in Lexington, South Carolina, though he also remembers him having black friends.

"He would say it just as a joke," Mullins told CNN. "I never took it seriously. But ... maybe they should have been."

Joey Meek told ABC that talk of reinstating segregation was nothing new for Roof, his roommate. He'd been plotting something for six months, though "he never did any of that," and authorities weren't tipped off.

"I think he wanted something big like Trayvon Martin," Meek said, referring to the black Florida teen whose shooting death at the hands of George Zimmerman -- who was acquitted of murder -- provoked huge protests. "He wanted to make something spark up the race war again."

More at CNN.

Grand Jury Indicts Former South Carolina Police Officer For Shooting Unarmed Walter Scott

The Huffington Post is reporting that a grand jury has indicted former North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager on the charge of murder in the April shooting of an unarmed black man, the prosecutor announced on Monday.

"I think the people of the 9th circuit elected me to be accountable to them, and that’s what we intend to do," Charleston County Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said during a news conference following the announcement of the indictment Monday. "They have to know they have someone prosecuting the case who is accountable to them."

Check back for updates.

South Carolina: Police Officer Charged With Murder In Traffic Stop Shooting

Michael Slager

A South Carolina police officer has been charged with murder after witness video showed the officer shooting an unarmed man in the back.

North Charleston officer Michael Slager will now be charged with murdering Walter "Lamar" Scott, 50, who died shortly after the Saturday morning incident. A murder conviction in the state could lead to the death penalty or up to 30 years to life in prison, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

The two videos that Scott family attorney Chris Stewart said were recorded by a bystander, whose name has not been released, appear to show the moments when Scott begins to run away from the officer. While the officer’s stun gun is not visible in the video, what appears to be a string is visible stretching from Scott to Officer Slager, where it was apparently attaching the stun gun to his clothing. Scott is seen running away from Slager as the officer proceeds to fire eight successive shots in Scott's direction before Scott falls to the ground.

"I can tell you that as a result of that video and the bad decision made by our officer he will be charged with murder and that's not something that we like to hear," Mayor R. Keith Summey said at a news conference this evening.

The incident began with a traffic stop by Slager, who has been with the North Charleston police department since 2009.

Watch the video below and see if the police officer had reason to "fear for his life" as he fired the fatal shots.