13:40 13 February 2013
The Navy Seal, who claims to have killed Osama Bin Laden, has broken his silence for the first time. Known only as the “shooter”, he describes the mission, which changed the course of history in extraordinary detail, and talked about the difficulties of going back to civilian life after the mission during an interview with the magazine Esquire.
The shooter, who joined the US Navy at the age of 19, said he requested to be part of the assault group that would enter the house where Bin Laden was believed to be hiding. As his team made their way through different parts of the building, the shooter went to the top floor where their target was found hiding.
He said: “In that second, I shot him, two times in the forehead. Bap! Bap! The second time as he’s going down. He crumpled on to the floor in front of his bed and I hit him again, Bap! Same place ... He was dead.
“Not moving. His tongue was out. I watched him take his last breaths, just a reflex breath. And I remember as I watched him breathe out the last part of air, I thought: is this the best thing I’ve ever done, or the worst thing I’ve ever done?”
The interview is expected to be released in Esquire’s March edition.