Exclusive: Blackwater Turret Gunner 'Paul': Why I Opened Fire in Baghdad

"As I turned my turret to the six, there was a man in a blue button down shirt with black pants that had his AK oriented to the rear gunner in the follow vehicle. Fearing for the gunner's life, I engaged the individual and stopped the threat," he said.

"Paul" claimed that the motorcade continued to be attacked, even as it was being towed out of the intersection.

"I again was engaged by small arms fire from the red bus that was stopped at the intersection. I engaged the individuals and stopped the threat," he said in the statement.

There was still one more target that the Blackwater turret gunner claimed to be an enemy threat in his statement, a passenger car he said he thought might be rigged as a bomb.

"There was a red vehicle backing toward the command vehicle. Fearing that it was a VBIED [vehicle-borne improvised explosive device], I engaged in order to stop the threat," his account reads.

In his statement, the Blackwater guard said while in Iraq he had made "numerous split second shoot don't shoot decisions." He said he had successfully completed weapons qualification courses required by the State Department to carry automatic weapons.

Blackwater has maintained its guards acted appropriately in protecting U.S. diplomats from attack.

As to the New York Times account of the FBI's preliminary findings, the spokesperson said, "Blackwater supports stringent accountability for our industry. If official findings conclude that someone was complicit in wrongdoing, we will support holding that person accountable. However, the investigation remains underway and to the best of our understanding, the key people involved in the incident have yet to even speak with authorities."