Police on possible Orlando friendly fire deaths: "Those killings are all on the suspect"
ORLANDO - The FBI released partial transcripts of four phone calls between Omar Mateen and police officials during the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando in part to address growing criticism over the three hours it took to end the standoff, as well as their numerous phone calls with the shooter.
The FBI transcripts shows that Mateen first called 911 around 2:35 a.m. about 30 minutes after the first reports of shots fired inside the club. The SWAT team stormed the building at 5:02 a.m., and Mateen was reported dead 13 minutes later.
In the three hours in between, there were no reports of shots fired inside the nightclub, according to the FBI.
Orlando Police Chief John Mina told a news conference on Monday there is a "misconception that we didn't do anything for three hours. I'm trying to clarify that's absolutely not true."
Mina said during that period, his officers were "in and out" of Pulse rescuing people, including at one point pulling an A/C unit out of a dressing room wall to rescue survivors.
The FBI transcripts state that Mateen said he was an "Islamic soldier" and that he had planed a car bomb, and that he had a vest like they "used in France," likely in reference to the suicide bomb vests several of the killers in the Paris attacks possessed.
According to the FBI timeline, there were only two short time periods when bullets were flying inside Pulse -- at the very beginning and the very end -- and that has given rise to many questions about whether police bullets accidentally struck and killed some of the 49 victims of the shooting.
Mina refused to say what the probe into the shooting has uncovered so far.
"That's all part of the investigation," Mina said. "But those killings are all on the suspect."