Orlando - Orlando gunman Omar Mateen spoke in Arabic to a 911 dispatcher, identified himself an Islamic soldier and demanded to a crisis negotiator that the US "stop bombing Syria and Iraq," according to transcripts released by the FBI on Monday.
The FBI provided a partial, printed transcript of three conversations Mateen had with the police during the worst mass shooting in modern US history
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 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.
"I let you know, I’m in Orlando and I did the shootings."
Mateen’s name and the groups and people to whom he pledged allegiance were omitted from the excerpt. But the FBI has previously stated that he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State.
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 and that is why he was "out here right now," according to the excerpt.
The gunman who slaughtered 49 people at gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida also said he had a car rigged with bombs outside and threatened to strap hostages into explosive vests.
“You people are gonna get it, and I'm gonna ignite it if they try to do anything stupid,” Mateen said during one of the 911 calls.
Mateen told the emergency dispatcher he was wearing an explosive vest like the kind they “used in France,” apparently referring to the deadly assault in Paris last November by Islamic militants, according to the transcript.
As victims were fleeing the club, they told police outside that the shooter said he was going to put four vests with bombs on victims within 15 minutes, the FBI said in its statement.
No such vests or improvised explosive devices were found in the nightclub or the suspect's car, however, the FBI said.
Authorities have said preliminary evidence indicates Mateen, who worked as a security guard, was a mentally disturbed individual who acted alone and without direction from outside networks.
Mateen, a New York-born US citizen and Florida resident of Afghan descent, has been described by US officials as “self-radicalized” in his extremist sympathies.
The release of the FBI transcript came a day after tens of thousands of people held a candlelight vigil in the heart of downtown Orlando for the 49 victims who died in the massacre. The victims also were remembered at church services and at makeshift memorials throughout Orlando.
"As a community, it’s important that we gather together to show our support because only together can we move forward," said Gabrielle Claire, a musician and Universal Orlando worker who says she knew three Pulse victims who died. She was holding a "Hugs for Healing" sign at the vigil and numerous strangers came up to hug her.
"We don’t have to be afraid of holding each other. We don’t have to be afraid of saying to other people, ‘I’m here for you,’" she said.
Meanwhile, hospital officials said four people remained in critical condition Monday morning, more than a week after they were wounded in the attack.
Reuters and AP