The gunman who killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Florida threatened to detonate a auto rigged with bombs and to strap hostages into explosive vests, according to partial transcripts of his 911 calls released on Monday.
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The Obama administration’s Department of Justice changed course Monday and released the unredacted transcript of Orlando gunman Omar Mateen’s 911 call.
Republicans tore into the decision by USA officials to redact portions of a partial transcript of the 911 call between the Orlando shooter and police, where the gunman pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State.
“I pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – may God protect him [Arabic] – on behalf of the Islamic State”, Mateen responded.
The transcript, even though many parts are shielded from public view, provides the most thorough look yet into precisely what 29-year-old Mateen said to police as he holed up inside a bathroom at Pulse, keeping more than 15 people from fleeing to safety after he had shot others.
He also said he had a vest like the kind “used in France” and before hanging up he added, “In the next few days, you’re going to see more of this type of action going on”.
The shooter made the first call in “a chilling, calm and deliberate manner”, said Ronald Hopper, FBI assistant special agent in charge in Orlando during a news briefing on multi TV networks.
“It doesn’t make any sense to me why you wouldn’t release the entire transcript”, Scott told Hemmer.
Asked if the gunfire killed hostages, Mina told reporters the nightclub shooting deaths are “on the suspect and the suspect alone”.
Mina made his comment about possible friendly-fire deaths during a news conference following the release of the redacted transcript.
He also said Mateen “identified himself as an Islamic soldier who pledged allegiance to a terrorist organization that is bent on killing Americans”.
“I think there’s this misconception that we didn’t do anything for three hours”, Mina said.
After pressure, the decision was reversed and the full transcripts were released.
FBI Director James Comey has said previously that there were three different 911 calls involving Mateen.
Police obtained “significant information” from people inside the club, giving them a clearer picture of the threat – although those transcripts will not be made public.
As well as meeting first responders and victims, she is also scheduled to appear alongside Lee Bentley, the U.S. attorney in Orlando who is overseeing the investigation into the shooting.
As for what motivated Mateen, Hopper said that authorities have no evidence that a foreign terrorist group directed his violent plot.
Meanwhile, four people remain in critical condition, according to hospital officials, more than a week after they were wounded in the nightclub attack.
The attack left 50 people dead, including the shooter, and is the worst mass shooting in modern USA history.
In a controversial decision, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Sunday that all references to ISIS, jihad, and Mateen’s radical Islamist beliefs would be scrubbed from the transcripts, according to Fox News.
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Mourners console each other as they grieve the loss of their friends Amanda Alvear and Mercedez Flores who were killed in the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub, as they visit a makeshift memorial downtown, Monday, June 13, 2016, in Orlando, Fla.
