Before shooting began, shooter called 911 and swore allegiance to ISIS – @PeteWilliamsNBC says https://t.co/zz8JmfQ66a
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) June 12, 2016
Omar Mateen, the suspect in the Orlando, Fla., nightclub shooting that killed 50 people and injured 53 others, called 911 before the attack, according to NBC News.
{mosads}Reporter Pete Williams said law enforcement officials told him the gunman called 911 just before the killing spree began and pledged allegiance to Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
An Iraqi TV channel reported Friday that the ISIS leader had been wounded in an air strike in northern Iraq, but U.S. and Iraqi officials could not confirm that, Reuters reported.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said he was told the shooting suspect pledged allegiance to ISIS before the shooting.
“What I’ve heard from the Department of Homeland Security this morning is that, according to local police, he made a pledge of allegiance to ISIL,” Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on CNN, using an alternate acronym for ISIS.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) said Sunday the attack at Pulse, a gay nightclub, that left 50 dead resembles last year’s Paris terrorist attacks at a music venue.
“We need to let the FBI conduct their investigation, but I will say, everything that I’m seeing now points to some type of radical Islam,” Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, said on CNN.