Teen Challenge member, Carol Parker, center, becomes emotional during a memorial service at River Park Saturday, July 18, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn., for the victims of the Tennessee shootings.
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Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez opened fire at two military-related locations in Chattanooga on Thursday, shooting seven people, including four Marines who died that day.
“There are no words to describe our shock, horror and grief”, said a statement from the family, who live in Hixson, Tennessee.
In a statement his family said: “The person who committed this frightful crime was not the son we knew and loved”.
“For many years, our son suffered from depression”, Abdulazeez’s family said in the statement, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. The 24-year-old suspect, who was also killed, was born in Kuwait and became a naturalized USA citizen.
‘At this time, we have no indication that he was inspired by or directed by anyone other than himself, ‘ Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Ed Reinhold said, referring to Abdulazeez.
Several years ago, relatives tried to have Abdulazeez admitted to an in-patient program for drug and alcohol abuse but a health insurer refused to approve the expense, said the representative.
Authorities have not yet determined a motive, and Abdul Ofoli, a college professor who thought of Abdulazeez as amiable and “brilliant”, according to the AP, saw Abdulazeez just a few days before the shooting and said he seemed fine.
The sailor, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, was a reservist serving on active duty in Chattanooga.
John Sullivan, co-owner with Thomas’ brother Joe of Nathan Bill’s Bar and Restaurant in Springfield, changed his Facebook profile picture to a split shot of his smiling brother in uniform and a black ribbon over the Marines Corps logo.
Ashley Montgomery, whose husband is a Navy sailor, pays her respects at a memorial set up in front of the Armed Forces Career Centre/National Guard Recruitment Office, which had been shot up on Thursday.
President Barack Obama has said that radicalised individuals acting on their own pose a greater risk to the country than a large-scale operation.
The outlet added that around 10 p.m. the night before the attack, the friend received a text from Abdulazeez with a link to a Hadith (i.e., Islamic teaching). “Some of the weapons were purchased legally and some of them may not have been”, he said, declining to comment further about the weapons.
The Navy said his name would not be released for the next 24 hours pending notification of next-of-kin.
“We have no information to date to suggest that these trips were associated with any nefarious or violent extremist activities”, the law enforcement official said.
Another friend said, “He had always talked about it, but I’d say his level of understanding and awareness really rose after he came back”. “Arming the National Guard at these bases will not only serve as a deterrent to anyone wishing to do harm to our servicemen and women, but will enable them to protect those living and working on the base”.
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But state governors in Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas signed executive orders that would allow U.S. military personnel to carry firearms at recruiting centers.
