Much remains unknown about the gunman and his motive, though the F.B.I. is treating the shooting as a presumed act of terrorism. Investigators have received information that Mr. Alshamrani was active on social media. Though they have not released any specifics, the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activity online, found a Twitter account with a name matching the gunman’s criticizing the United States as “evil.”
The Pentagon heightened security reviews at bases around the country on Monday, citing the two shootings that occurred last week on military bases, in Pensacola and at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii. In the Pearl Harbor attack, the gunman fatally shot two shipyard workers before killing himself.
On Tuesday, Thomas B. Modly, the acting Navy Secretary, awarded posthumous “wings of gold” to the three Pensacola victims, proclaiming Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson a naval aviator and Airman Mohammed Haitham and Airman Apprentice Cameron Walters naval aircrewmen. Five of the injured had been sent home from the hospital by Monday, with the three remaining patients in stable condition.
Mr. Alshamrani first arrived in the United States in August 2017 for a year of English-language training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, according to a Pentagon official. He later spent a year and a half in aviation training in Pensacola, before moving on to advanced strike fighter training in October.
In April, Mr. Alshamrani filed a formal complaint against one of his instructors at the base whom he accused of embarrassing him in front of other aviation students by mocking his mustache as looking like that of a pornographic actor.
The F.B.I. did not identify the shop where Mr. Alshamrani bought the gun, but ABC News reported it was Uber’s Lock and Gun in Pensacola. Naomi Uber, the owner, declined to comment on Monday, referring questions about the gun purchase to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which in turn directed inquiries to the F.B.I.
“There is an ongoing investigation,” Ms. Uber said. “I can’t pull up paperwork. I don’t have authority to discuss anything with you.”
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/us/pensacola-florida-shooting-saudi-students.html
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