--- description: The wife of Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen broke her silence for the first time since her husband’s deadly rampage in June. title: Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen’s Wife Speaks Out: 'I Am Human' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c602047fba15205/6988ac550b72e333196eb93a/omar-mateen.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen’s Wife Speaks Out: 'I Am Human'  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 1, 2016 7:06 PM CUT  Undated photo of Omar Mateen, identified as the gunman in mass shooting at a gay club in Orlando, Fla., on June 12, 2016. Undated photo of Omar Mateen, identified as the gunman in mass shooting at a gay club in Orlando, Fla., on June 12, 2016.AP  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 1, 2016 7:06 PM CUT The wife of Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen [broke her silence](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/us/politics/orlando-shooting-omar-mateen-noor-salman.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&%5Fr=1 "undefined") since her husband’s deadly rampage in June, insisting in her first media interview that she was “unaware” of his plans and that she has been left broken by the tragedy. [Noor Salman](http://time.com/4369619/orlando-shooter-wife-omar-noor-mateen-charges/ "undefined"), 30, told the New York _Times_ that she has moved three times since the Pulse nightclub massacre to avoid media attention and sometimes finds herself too shattered to get out of bed. But now she wants to speak out to relay a message to the public: “I just want people to know that I am human. I am a mother,” she told the newspaper. Salman recounted her abusive relationship with Mateen, whom she met on an Internet dating site in 2011\. The two had a 3-year-old son together. The violence she recalled, which included him punching her and threatening her, is similar to the accounts [Mateen’s ex-wife Sitora Yusufiy has described](http://time.com/4511296/orlando-shooter-ex-wife-sitora-yusufiy/ "undefined"). Still, Salman said she did not know what her husband had planned. “I was unaware of everything,” she said. “I don’t condone what he has done. I am very sorry for what has happened. He has hurt a lot of people. How can someone be capable of that?” \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/us/politics/orlando-shooting-omar-mateen-noor-salman.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&%5Fr=1 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4553844/orlando-shooter-omar-mateen-wife-noor-salman/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4553844/orlando-shooter-omar-mateen-wife-noor-salman/"},"headline":"Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen’s Wife Speaks Out: 'I Am Human'","datePublished":"2016-11-01T19:06:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:21:31.249Z","description":"\"How can someone be capable of that?”","url":"https://time.com/4553844/orlando-shooter-omar-mateen-wife-noor-salman/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c602047fba15205/6988ac550b72e333196eb93a/omar-mateen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c602047fba15205/6988ac550b72e333196eb93a/omar-mateen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Undated file photos and selfies of Omar Mateen","caption":"Undated photo or selfie of Omar Mateen, identified as the gunman in mass shooting at a gay club in Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016. The shooting death toll rose to 50 with a further 53 wounded. Photo Balkis Press/Sipa USA","creditText":"AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4553844/orlando-shooter-omar-mateen-wife-noor-salman/","name":"Orlando Shooter Omar Mateen’s Wife Speaks Out: 'I Am Human'"}}]}] ```