CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee — Four Marines were killed Thursday when a gunman attacked two military centers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the U.S. Navy said.
“I have directed the FBI to take the lead in the national security investigation of this heinous attack on members of our military,” U.S.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said, calling the shooting “a shameful and cowardly act of violence.”The suspected shooter, 24-year-old Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, is also dead, the FBI said.
A terrorism task force involving federal and local agencies is investigating, a law enforcement source said.
Authorities “have not determined whether it was an act of terrorism or whether it was a criminal act,” Ed Reinhold, FBI special agent in charge, told reporters. “We are looking at every possible avenue, whether it was terrorism — whether it was domestic, international — or whether it was a simple, criminal act.”
A key detail will help them make that determination: finding out the suspect’s motive.
In the neighborhood where Abdulazeez is believed to have lived, police cars and an ambulance were on the streets. Residents were blocked from reaching their homes.
“We will treat this as a terrorism investigation until it can be determined that it is not,” Reinhold said. U.S. Attorney Bill Killian earlier told reporters that authorities were treating the shooting as an “act of domestic terrorism.”
The shootings unfolded at two sites over 30 minutes, Reinhold said.
The suspected gunman started spraying bullets at the glass doors of a strip mall military recruiting center around 10:45 a.m. ET, witnesses said. From there, he headed to another location more than seven miles away, an operational support center operated by the U.S. Navy. That’s where the four victims and the gunman were killed, Reinhold said.
At least three people were injured, officials said, including a police officer and a military service member.
The officer, who was injured when he was shot in the ankle, has been treated at the hospital, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said. A military service member was also among the wounded, the Defense Department said.
Source: Fox 6
