The gunman in a Thursday shooting at a military recruitment center in Chattanooga was identified by the FBI as Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez.
The FBI said Abdulazeez, 24, killed four people and injured three others. He also died in the shooting, though authorities have not said whether it was by his own hand or by police.
Abdulazeez is from Hixson, a northern Chattanooga suburb, according to public records. Law enforcement swarmed his neighborhood after the shooting, which began around 10.30am on Thursday.
The incident began at Lee Highway recruiting center, then police chased Abdulazeez to the Amnicola Highway recruitment center, nearly eight miles away. All four of the victims were killed at that location, but their names have not yet been released.
A US official told the AP that Abdulazeez is believed to have been born in Kuwait, but his citizenship status remains unclear. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga confirmed that a student of the same name graduated in 2012 with a degree in engineering.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press posted an image from the Red Bank High School yearbook, that they said multiple graduates had sent them of his senior picture and senior quote.
“My name causes national security alerts,” the quote reads. “What does yours do?”
A YouTube account tied to his purported email address includes a video of young men cliff jumping near Chattanooga – and his name is in the description line of the uploaded video. The two other videos uploaded to the account are titled “natural hallucinogen 2x (faster and better trip)” and “natural hallucinogen slow motion (stronger and longer trip),” and depict whirring graphics. Aside from that, the user had added videos by Drake and Arctic Monkeys to his favorites list.
US attorney general Loretta Lynch condemned the “cowardly act” in a statement.
“I have directed the FBI to take the lead in the national security investigation of this heinous attack on members of our military,” Lynch said. “The US attorney’s office and department prosecutors are also actively involved.”
Copyright © 2015 theguardian.com. All rights reserved.
