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Omar Mateen Told Police He’d Strap Bombs to Hostages, Orlando Mayor Says Omar Mateen Told Police He’d Strap Bombs to Hostages, Orlando Mayor Says
(about 4 hours later)
ORLANDO, Fla. — The gunman who went on a rampage at a gay nightclub early Sunday told the police he would strap explosives to four hostages and strategically place them in the corners of the building, Orlando’s mayor said on Wednesday, shedding some light on the decision to send a SWAT team into the building as well as the delay in removing the dead. ORLANDO, Fla. — Amid the massacre at a gay nightclub here, while the gunman held dozens of people hostage, the police got word from multiple sources that the killer had booby-trapped himself, hostages and the building with explosives, Orlando’s mayor said on Wednesday.
Over the course of several hours after Omar Mateen attacked the Pulse nightclub and took hostages, he told police negotiators that he planned to strap bombs to four people, Mayor Buddy Dyer said. In phone calls and text messages to 911 operators, friends and family members, people trapped inside the club, who heard statements the killer was making, also warned of explosives. Holed up in Pulse nightclub early Sunday, the gunman, Omar Mateen, told police by phone that he would strap explosives to four hostages and place them strategically in the corners of the building, Mayor Buddy Dyer told reporters. People trapped inside made panicked calls and text messages to 911 operators, friends and family members, also warning that Mr. Mateen was talking about bombs, he said.
“We had independent verification of that,” Mr. Dyer said. “We had a lot of information from the inside and they independently were saying yes, the bomber is about to put on an explosive vest.” “We had a lot of information from the inside and they independently were saying yes, the bomber is about to put on an explosive vest,” Mr. Dyer said.
Mr. Dyer confirmed reports that Mr. Mateen, 29, had been driving around that night visiting locations, apparently casing potential targets for a massacre. So far, investigators have not found any evidence that Mr. Mateen, 29, had explosives, senior law enforcement officials said Wednesday. His rampage with an assault rifle and a handgun left 49 people dead and 53 wounded, the worst mass shooting in United States history, and he died in a shootout with law enforcement officers.
But on Wednesday, Ronald Hopper, an assistant special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Tampa office, said investigators believed that Pulse was the gunman’s sole intended target. Investigators continued looking into whether his wife, Noor Zahi Salman, knew what he had planned, but at a news conference, officials deflected questions about possible criminal charges against her.
Agent Hopper would not say whether Mr. Mateen actually had any explosives.
Investigators have been looking into whether the gunman’s wife, Noor Zahi Salman, knew in advance what her husband had planned, and they were scouring his computer use.
Ms. Salman has told F.B.I. investigators that she tried to talk her husband out of some kind of attack, according to senior law enforcement officials. But she also told them that she had gone with him to buy ammunition, and that she had once driven him to Pulse, they said.
At a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, officials would not discuss the possibility that she or anyone else would face criminal charges.
“I’m not going to speculate with respect to any charges that might be brought,” said A. Lee Bentley III, the United States attorney for the Middle District of Florida. “We’re not sure what charges will be brought, or if charges will be brought.”“I’m not going to speculate with respect to any charges that might be brought,” said A. Lee Bentley III, the United States attorney for the Middle District of Florida. “We’re not sure what charges will be brought, or if charges will be brought.”
Agent Hopper urged patience. “Investigations are deliberate by their very nature,” he said. Investigators were still analyzing a crime scene at which well over 100 shots were fired, a labor-intensive process. Ms. Salman has told F.B.I. investigators that she tried to talk her husband out of some kind of attack, according to senior law enforcement officials. But she also told them that she had gone with him to buy ammunition, and that she had once driven him to Pulse, they said.
Agent Hopper appealed for the public’s help in retracing Mr. Mateen’s movements and contacts, and said investigators were going back years in time in search of a motive or possible accomplices. Ronald Hopper, an assistant agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Tampa office, urged patience with investigators, who he noted were still analyzing a complex crime scene. He also appealed for the public’s help in retracing Mr. Mateen’s movements, as investigators scour his past for motives or possible accomplices.
John Mina, the city police chief, has said that after a three-hour standoff Sunday morning, law enforcement officials made the decision to storm the club using explosives and an armored vehicle because they had reason to believe they were facing an “imminent loss of life,” but he did not elaborate. Efforts to parse Mr. Mateen’s motivation have revealed strands of Islamist radicalism, bigotry, mental illness and even self-hatred — one possibility being investigated was that he was gay. Mr. Mateen had expressed hatred of gays and made contradictory claims of links to terrorist groups. His former wife has said he abused her.
Mr. Mateen’s assault on Pulse left 49 people dead and 53 wounded in the worst mass shooting in American history. Mr. Mateen used both an assault rifle and a handgun in the attack. In talking with the police on Sunday, he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. News 13, a cable news channel in Orlando, reported that the gunman also called the station during the siege and declared his allegiance to the group.
Survivors of the siege have said that Mr. Mateen, who died in a shootout with the police, talked of accomplices as well as bombs — snipers who he said were prepared to gun people down. Many of the survivors said they had been searched carefully by the police when they escaped the club or were rescued, to make sure they did not have explosives or guns on them. Mr. Dyer confirmed reports that Mr. Mateen, 29, had been driving around the night of the slaughter, visiting locations, possibly casing potential targets for an attack. But Mr. Hopper said investigators believed that Pulse was the gunman’s intended target.
The concern that explosives might be at play grew after Mr. Mateen was killed, the mayor told reporters after a morning news conference to announce the opening of a victims’ assistance center at Camping World Stadium, formerly known as the Citrus Bowl. One woman who escaped the nightclub unharmed said Wednesday that she was angry that after an initial exchange of gunfire with Mr. Mateen, police officers pulled back and settled into a standoff, rather than quickly forcing a confrontation.
“When the shooter was killed you could see a battery pack right next to him, which would indicate to us that there’s a detonator of some sort,” Mr. Dyer said. “There was also a bag near his body, so you would logically lead to the conclusion that the bag contained explosives and he had some type of detonator that could have been a pressure detonator that was under the body.” “By the time I came out and came around I told the officers that he’s already shot at least a hundred rounds, and I told the officers on my way out that there was already at least 20 people that were dead,” said the woman, Jeannette McCoy, 37, of Orlando.
That led to a delay of several hours before the building was cleared, “because all indications were that it was booby-trapped,” he said. “I wanted this guy dead,” she said, but instead, “they gave him so much time. And I’m yelling at the officers like, ‘This is what my tax dollars go to? You’re supposed to be there to protect and serve.’ You can’t tell me this occurred at 2 o’clock in the morning and finally at 5 o’clock in the morning is when you finally decide to go ahead and shoot him?”
News 13, a cable news channel in Orlando, reported that the gunman also called the station during the siege. The producer who took the call said that Mr. Mateen proclaimed allegiance to the Islamic State, as he did when talking with the police. The possibility that Mr. Mateen might have had bombs sheds some light on the decision by police commanders to storm the building Sunday morning, breaching an outer wall with explosives and an armored vehicle. John Mina, Orlando’s police chief, has said that they made the call because they had reason to believe they were facing an “imminent loss of life,” but he did not offer details.
The area around Pulse remained cordoned off by federal, state and municipal law enforcement agencies. Large multiagency mobile-command trucks barricaded the club, blocking the view from the public. Survivors of the siege said they were searched carefully by the police when they escaped the club or were rescued, to make sure they did not have explosives or guns on them.
The threat of explosives also accounts for the delay of several hours before the building was cleared and bodies removed, “because all indications were that it was booby-trapped,” Mr. Dyer said.
“When the shooter was killed, you could see a battery pack right next to him, which would indicate to us that there’s a detonator of some sort,” he said. “There was also a bag near his body, so you would logically lead to the conclusion that the bag contained explosives and he had some type of detonator that could have been a pressure detonator that was under the body.”