The FBI announced it will investigate the deadly shooting at Pensacola Naval Air Shooting as terrorism.
From Fox News:
In remarks delivered at a news conference, FBI Special Agent-In-Charge Rachel Rojas said all international students at that base have been accounted for and that all the Saudi students close to the shooter were continuing to cooperate in the investigation.”We are, as we do in most active-shooter investigations, work with the presumption that this was an act of terrorism,” Rojas told reporters.
Rojas explained the FBI’s “main goal right now is to confirm whether he acted alone or was he a part of a larger network.” Right now officials “currently assess there was one gunman who perpetrated this attack, and no arrests have been made in this case.”
Saudi native Mohammad Alshamtani, the shooter, killed three people and wounded eight:
- Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, 23, of Coffee, Ala.
- Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham, 19, of St. Petersburg, Fla.
- Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters, 21, of Richmond Hill, Ga.
“The sorrow from the tragic event on N.A.S. Pensacola will have a lasting impact on our installation and community,” said Capt. Timothy F. Kinsella Jr., the commanding officer of the base. “We feel the loss profoundly and grieve with the family and friends of the deceased.”
Saudi Arabia has promised to cooperate with the investigation.
Alshamtani held a dinner party last week where he and three other people watched mass shootings on videos.
An unnamed official told The Associated Press “one of the three students who attended the dinner party hosted by the attacker recorded video outside the classroom building while the shooting was taking place on Friday.”
The official also said that “[T]wo other Saudi students watched from a car.”
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pressed the government to “improve its checks on the troops from other nations who come to the United States for training.”
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper promised to “review screening procedures, but would maintain the training programs.” He insisted on the importance of foreign students training “with us, to understand American culture.” He finds it as a positive, which gives us an advantage over others like Russia and China.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY