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Washington Post, News 13, TVWeek

While He Was Killing People in the Nightclub, the Shooter Called a Local TV Channel — Here’s What He Said

Jun 16, 2016  •  Post A Comment

The shooter who killed at least 49 people early Sunday morning at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., placed a call to 24-hour news channel News 13 in the midst of the shootings. The Washington Post reports that his call was answered by Matthew Gentili, a producer at the Orlando-based news channel.

Here’s The Post’s account of the call:

“Do you know about the shooting?” a man asked Gentili.

“Yes, I’m getting calls,” Gentili said. “I am hearing reports of a shooting. …”

The man cut him off.

“I’m the shooter. It’s me,” the man said. “I am the shooter.”

The caller then said he had carried out the Pulse attack for the Islamic State and began speaking quickly in a foreign language.

“At the time, I didn’t know what he was saying,” Gentili told News 13 reporter Scott Fais. “He was speaking so fast. But it was … he was speaking fluently. Whatever language he was speaking, he knew it. And he was speaking it very quickly. And that is when I said to him, ‘Sir. Please. Speak in English, please.’”

“I did it for ISIS,” the caller said, according to Gentili, “I did it for the Islamic State.”

When the TV producer asked the caller’s location, the man said it was “none of my [expletive] business,” Gentili said.

“It was silent for a while,” Gentili said. “I asked him: ‘Is there anything else you want to say?’”

The man said no and hung up.

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