FoxNews:

The U.S. Justice Department announced Monday it has successfully accessed data stored on the iPhone that belonged to the San Bernardino gunman without Apple's help, ending the court case against the tech company.

The surprise development effectively ends a pitched court battle between Apple and the Obama administration.

The government asked a federal judge to vacate a disputed order forcing Apple to help the FBI break into the iPhone, saying it was no longer necessary.

The court filing in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California provided no details about how the FBI did it or who showed it how. 

“As the government noted in its filing today, the FBI has now successfully retrieved the data stored on the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple required by this Court Order," DOJ spokeswoman Melaine Newman said in a statement. "The FBI is currently reviewing the information on the phone, consistent with standard investigatory procedures."

A law enforcement official said Monday night that DOJ no longer requires the assistance of Apple in unlocking the iPhone that belonged to San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook given that the third party method demonstrated to FBI earlier this month proved successful.

The official added that the decision to request that the order compelling Apple to assist FBI be vacated by the court for that same reason.

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