ORLANDO, Fla.—Orlando gunman Omar Mateen identified himself as an Islamic soldier in calls with authorities during his rampage and warned a crisis negotiator that in coming days “you’re going to see more of this type of action going on,” according to transcripts released by the FBI on Monday.
The partial transcripts were of a 911 call made by Mateen and three conversations he had with the police crisis negotiators during the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, in which 49 people died and dozens were wounded.
FBI has released full transcript of first call of #Orlando shooter to 911 and summary of 3 calls to Crisis Team -> pic.twitter.com/tdjHVbyDss
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) June 20, 2016
Those communications, along with Facebook posts and searches Mateen made around the time of the shootings, add to the public understanding of the final hours ofMateen’s life and to the possible motivations behind the rampage.
The first call came more than a half-hour after shots rang out, when Mateen told a 911 operator, “Praise be to God, and prayers as well as peace be upon the prophet of God,” he told the dispatcher, referring to God in Arabic.
“I let you know, I’m in Orlando and I did the shootings.”
