Four Marines were killed and three other people were injured today in an
horrific shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee that rocked the country,
according to the mayor and military officials.
Witnesses said that they heard dozens of shots as the suspected gunman,
identified as 24-year-old Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, opened fire on
two military installations sending people running for cover, according
to the Associated press.
Abdulazeez, of Hixson, Tenn., was killed in a firefight with responding
police officers after the rampage, a U.S. official said. The FBI said
Friday night that the manner of his death was still being determined.
A motive for the shooting was still under investigation, but officials
were investigating whether he was inspired by ISIS or other terrorist
groups.
"My main message right now is obviously the deepest sympathies of the
American people to the four Marines that have been killed," President
Obama said to reporters in the Oval Office. "It is a heartbreaking
circumstance for these individuals ... to be killed in this fashion."
The gunman, armed with "numerous weapons," according to the FBI,
targeted two military complexes about 7 miles away away from each other.
Officials believe there was only one shooter involved in the killings.
Abdulazeez first set his sights on the Combined Armed Forces Recruiting
Center around 11 a.m., wounding a Marine in the leg after opening fire
from his vehicle, the FBI said.
Sgt. 1st Class Robert Dodge, the head of Army recruiting at the center,
said that he heard a single shot followed by more gunfire, he told the
Associated Press.
He and his colleagues got to the ground and to a safe place and heard 30 to 50 shots in total, they said, according to the AP.
According to officials, the gunman pulled up to the recruiting station
and opened fire, damaging the offices of the neighboring recruiting
stations for other branches, the AP said.
Then he got in a car and drove to a military facility housing a Naval
Operational Support Center and Marine Reserve Center where he ran his
car through a security gate, entered the building and killed four
Marines, officials said. The complex contains facilities for the Navy
and Marine Corps Reserve including their armory.
A witness, Marilyn Hutcheson, who works nearby told the AP that she heard many shots.
"I couldn't even begin to tell you how many," she said, according to the
wire service. "It was rapid-fire, like pow-pow-pow-pow-pow, so quickly.
The next thing I knew, there were police cars coming from every
direction."
Responding officers engaged him a firefight and killed him. During the gun battle, one of the officers was wounded.
Also injured was a sailor, who was wounded at the Marine Reserve Center, and a Marine recruiter, who was treated and released.
A defense official said the sailor was in critical condition. The condition of the officer was not clear.
A senior U.S. official briefed on the incident said that Abdulazeez was
born in Kuwait and was not on the radar of law enforcement. Officials
are investigating whether he was inspired by ISIS or other terrorist
groups.
"They've run an initial check on him," the source told ABC News. "Right
now there is nothing popping early in the system on him -- but that
could change in time. They are still checking multiple other databases
on him."
Mayor Andy Berke said that the shooter "viciously attacked at two different locations people who proudly serve our country."
The FBI said it was looking into the suspect's background.
"We're going to do an intense look at him to see what his connections
are," the special agent in charge, Ed Reinhold said at the news
conference, noting that authorities believe he was a lone gunman.
At this point, the agency doesn't "have anything that directly ties him
to an international terrorist organization," Reinhold said.
Some details began to emerge late Friday about the gunman.
According to the University of Tennssee-Chattanooga, Abdulazeez
graduated in 2012 with a degree in electrical engineering and attended
the school for four years, according to the Director of University
Relations, Chuck Cantrell.
He was also a mixed martial artist and fought and won in a match in Chattanooga in 2009, according to a video posted online.
His yearbook from Red Bank High School in Chattanooga contained a chilling quote.
"My name causes national security alerts," he wrote. "What does yours do?"
Hussnain Javid, who went to the same college and high school, described
Abdulazeez as a "very outgoing" and popular student who was a member of
the wrestling team, the AP said.
The shootings sparked an outpouring of grief.
"Today, the Navy and Marine Corps team collectively mourn the loss of
four heroes," Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a statement. "The tragedy
in Chattanooga is both devastating and senseless. On behalf of the
entire Department of the Navy family, I offer my deepest condolences to
the families of those killed and wounded in service to our nation during
this incident."
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