Authorities identified the shooter at the Pensacola, FL, Naval Air Station as Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, a Saudi Arabia national.
Alshamrani shot and killed three people at the station this morning:
The shooter — who was wielding a handgun, despite firearms not being allowed on base — was confronted and taken out by a pair of responding officers, officials say. Two people were killed at the scene while a third victim died after being rushed to a local hospital. Seven others suffered injuries and are undergoing treatment, including the two officers, one of whom was shot in the arm and the other in the knee. Both are expected to survive.“The government of Saudi Arabia needs to make things better for these victims,” Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who says he has spoken to President Trump about the shooting, told reporters during a press conference Friday afternoon. “They are going to owe a debt here given that this is one of their individuals.”“Anyone who serves in the Navy knows that this is a special place, Naval Air Station Pensacola,” DeSantis added. “All these brave warriors who wear the wings, they come through here for flight training. And so this is a dark day for a very great place.”
The Associated Press reported officials have begun investigating if it was terrorism-related.
The Naval Air Station hosts the Naval Education and Training Security Assistance Field Activity’s International Training Center. Cmdr. Bill Gibson, the man in charge, said in 2017 that placing “international students in our U.S. Navy training and culture helps build partnership capacity for both the present and for the years ahead.”
The Navy confirmed people from Saudi Arabia make up “[T]he majority of the hundreds of students that have participated in the program.”
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