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Orlando Police Defend Actions as Clock Ticked in Massacre
transcript
F.B.I.: Gunman Doesn't Represent Islam
After the release of partial transcript of negotiation between a 911 dispatcher and Omar Mateen, the F.B.I. said that the Orlando gunman had identified himself as "an Islamic soldier," but that he was not representative of Islam.
Not provided. Reuters 1244 AP4041366 Ronald Hopper “Killer of 49, and the shooter of 53 others identified himself as an Islamic soldier who pledged allegiance to a terrorist organisation which was bent on killing Americans. He does not represent the religion of Islam, but a perverted view, which based on what we know today was inspired by extremist killers. We currently have no evidence that he was directed by a foreign terrorist group, but was radicalized domestically.
Some details of the Orlando nightclub massacre are known to the minute: The first reports of gunfire came at 2:02 a.m. The gunman made a 911 call at 2:35 a.m., in which he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. By 5:15 a.m., as hostages fled to safety, he lay dead or mortally wounded in a scene of unimaginable carnage.
Many questions persist about those three hours at the blood-drenched Pulse nightclub, and about how law enforcement handled the crisis on June 12. Orlando police officials have been peppered with queries from the public, survivors and the news media about whether they should have confronted the gunman sooner and whether any of the victims were shot by the police.
The city’s police chief, John Mina, and other officials have repeatedly defended the delay in storming a bathroom where the gunman had taken hostages, and have deflected questions about whose bullets did what damage. On Monday, Chief Mina answered in a way that left open the possibility that some of the 49 people killed and 53 wounded were, in fact, hit by police gunfire.
“That’s part of the investigation, but here’s what I will tell you: Those killings are on the suspect,” he said.
The chief spoke at a news conference with local and federal law enforcement officials outside the club to release a partial transcript of the gunman’s conversations with the police during the siege, and to fill a few gaps in the official account of what took place. But the news conference seemed intended just as much to reject criticism of the police.
“I think there was this misconception that we didn’t do anything for three hours, and that’s absolutely not true,” the chief said. He said the police had used the time to rescue patrons, get the lay of the building, put resources into place, determine where people were hiding and talk to the gunman.
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