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[h=4]FBI: Chattanooga shooter was 'homegrown violent extremist'[/h]Mohammod Abdulazeez, 24, shocked the city and nation Thursday when he attacked two military sites in Chattanooga with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.
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The FBI says a military service member opened fire on the Chattanooga gunman after he crashed through the gates of a military facility there. (July 22) AP
Handout provided by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office of Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez after he was was arrested on April 20, 2015 on a DUI offense.(Photo: Handout, Getty Images)
The gunman who killed five military personnel at a Chattanooga, Tenn., installation last week was a "homegrown violent extremist" who acted<span style="color: Red;">*</span>alone during his rampage, an FBI official<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said Wednesday.
Ed Reinhold, special agent in charge of the investigation, said it was too early to say whether<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mohammod Abdulazeez had been radicalized, but he said the possibility was being investigated. Reinhold added that the response of troops at the shooting scene "doubtlessly saved lives."
Abdulazeez, 24,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>shocked the city and nation Thursday when he attacked two military sites in Chattanooga with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and a handgun.
Reinhold said Abdulazeez never left his rented Ford<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mustang convertible during his first attack, a brief shooting spree<span style="color: Red;">*</span>at military recruiting offices where one officer was wounded.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>He then drove<span style="color: Red;">*</span>seven miles to the Navy Operational Support Center, where his shooting rampage left four Marines and a Navy petty officer dead.
Reinhold said Adulazeez crashed his car through the support center gate, drawing fire from police at the scene. He then drove up to the building<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and got out of the car shooting.
"He made his<span style="color: Red;">*</span>way through the building, pursuing sailors and Marines who were trying to evade him," Reinhold said. One person was killed in the building, the rest were killed in a motor pool behind it, Reinhold said. Chattanooga police fatally shot Abdulazeez at the scene, ending a brutal firefight that took less than five minutes.
Reinhold said Abdulazeez's guns were recovered at the scene, along with another he had left in his car. Two guns belonging to servicemembers also were recovered, and one had been fired, Reinhold said.
He said up to 1,000 agents were working on more than 400 leads in the case.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>He added that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>authorities were looking into reports that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Abdulazeez had suffered from depression including<span style="color: Red;">*</span>suicidal thoughts —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and that he studied radical information online.
"This is a complex, ongoing investigation and we are still in the early stages of piecing together what happened and why," Reinhold said.
Reinhold, asked if friendly fire might have been responsible for one or more of the deaths,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>it appeared the five victims were killed with the same weapon, a reference to Abdulazeez's assault rifle. Reinhold said authorities know where Abdulazeez's guns were purchased but would not say whether they had been purchased legally.
Marine Major Gen. Paul Brier echoed Reinhold's praise for the response of the servicemembers under siege and the police officers who responded.
Brier said that, due to the continuing investigation, he could share few details of the response. But he said some Marines swept from room to room hustling their colleagues to safety then "willingly ran back into the fight."
The slain Marines have been identified as Gunnery Sgt. Thomas J. Sullivan of Hampden, Mass., Sgt. Carson A. Holmquist of Polk County, Wis., Lance Cpl. Squire “Skip” K. Wells of Cobb, Ga., and Staff Sgt. David A. Wyatt of Burke, N.C. Also killed was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Randall Smith, a sailor from<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Rossville, Ga.
"The legacy of that day is one of valor," Brier said. "A day of American strength."
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