ORLANDO, FLORIDA // Orlando gunman Omar Mateen identified himself an Islamic soldier and demanded that the US “stop bombing Syria and Iraq” when he spoke in Arabic to a 911 dispatcher during the mass shooting, transcripts released by the FBI on Monday showed.
The partial, printed transcripts were of three conversations Mateen had with the police during the worst mass shooting in modern US history, in which 49 people died and dozens were wounded.
Those communications, along with Facebook posts Mateen made before and after the shooting, add to the public understanding of the final hours of Mateen’s life.
The first call came more than 30 minutes after shots rang out, when Mateen spoke to a 911 operator saying, “Praise be to God, and prayers as well as peace be upon the prophet of God.”
“I let you know, I’m in Orlando and I did the shootings,” he said.
During the 50-second call with a dispatcher, Mateen “made murderous statements in a chilling, calm and deliberate manner”, said Ronald Hopper, FBI assistant special agent in charge in Orlando.
There is no evidence, however, that Mateen was directed by a foreign terrorist group — he was radicalised on his own, Mr Hopper said.
Mateen’s name and the groups and people to whom he pledged allegiance were omitted from the excerpt. But the FBI has previously said he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the leader of ISIL.
Shortly after the call, Mateen had three conversations with crisis negotiators in which he identified himself as an Islamic soldier and told a negotiator to tell America to stop bombing Syria and Iraq. He said that was why he was “out here right now”, according to the excerpt.
Meanwhile, hospital officials said four people remained in critical condition on Monday, more than a week after they were wounded in the attack.
Orlando regional medical centre said 18 victims from the shooting were still at the hospital and three more surgeries had been scheduled for Monday. The other 14 patients are in a stable condition.
Armed with a semi-automatic weapon, Mateen went on a rampage at the Pulse nightclub June 12. He died in a hail of gunfire after police stormed the venue.
* Associated Press
