“It grieves us beyond belief to know that his pain found its expression in this heinous act of violence”, the family said in a statement provided to the AP.
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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).
A sailor wounded by him later died, on Saturday, according to the USA navy. Carson Holmquist of Polk, Wis.; and Lance Cpl.
Abdulazeez graduated from Red Bank High School in Chattanooga, where he was on the wrestling team.
Other friends said that he spoke of his anger about conflicts in the Middle East, including Israeli bombing in Gaza and the civil war in Syria, but his level of understanding and awareness really rose after he came back from a trip to Jordan previous year. “We have collected numerous sealed letters and items to keep forever”.
Sophia Ensley, right, and Barbie Branum embrace in front of a makeshift memorial at the Navy Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center, Saturday, July 18, 2015, for the victims of…
He had earlier shot up an armed forces recruitment center in the city. One childhood friend, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he went there for a job opportunity.
So far, there have been no reports that he discussed jihad on the Internet, or otherwise made his intentions known in the ways that have exposed so many would-be killers.
The whereabouts of the Abdulazeez family are not immediately.
The FBI is urging anyone with information that might aid the investigation to call (865) 602-7582.
Officials also have expressed concern that potential recruits are using encrypted forms of online communication as a way to evade detection from law enforcement, an issue the Justice Department raised before Congress last week.
“He told me that he had never seen it coming and did not see any signs from his son that he would be that way and do something like that, ” Issa said. A fifth victim, Navy sailor Randall Smith, died from injuries while in the hospital.
The police described his eyes as bloodshot, watery and droopy.
This booking photo taken in April and released by the Hamilton County, Tenn., sheriff’s office shows a man identified as Mohammod Youssuf Adbulazeez after being detained on suspicion of a driving offense.
Four Marines and a sailor were killed in an attack on two military centers in Tennessee which authorities are treating as “an act of terrorism”.
Kingery said funeral arrangements for Wells are still pending.
Going into the weekend, more details emerged about Abdulazeez, a University of Tennessee engineering graduate and mixed martial arts enthusiast who grew up in a middle-class neighborhood.
Authorities identified the suspect as 24-year-old Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez.
“A lot of people know we live there and that we’re Muslims”, she said.
According to the president of the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga, Bassam Issa, Abdulazeez’s father didn’t observe any changes in his son’s behavior.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered for National Guard personnel to be armed at military facilities throughout the state.
He joined the Navy shortly afterward. “We’ve got to understand that we have people in our country that want to harm our military”.
Florida Governor Rick Scott also relocated National Guard recruiters from storefront locations to armories in his state.
Abdulazeez, who was a naturalized American citizen born in Kuwait, was fatally shot in a faceoff with police officers.
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Reactions from politicians and military leaders to the ambush on two military sites in Chattanooga where four Marines died.
