FBI presumes Florida navy base shooting was act of terrorism
- Authorities are trying to determine if the suspect acted alone
- Alshamrani opened fire inside a classroom at the base, killing three people and wounding two sheriff’s deputies
The Saudi gunman who killed three people at the Pensacola naval base had apparently gone on Twitter soon before the shooting to blast US support of Israel and accuse America of being anti-Muslim, a US official said Sunday as the FBI confirmed it is operating on the assumption the attack was an act of terrorism.
Investigators are also trying to establish whether the killer, 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, 21, of the Royal Saudi Air Force, acted alone or was part of a larger plot.
Alshamrani, who was killed by a sheriff’s deputy during the rampage at a classroom building Friday, was undergoing flight training at Pensacola, where members of foreign militaries routinely receive instruction.
“We are, as we do in most active-shooter investigations, work with the presumption that this was an act of terrorism,” said Rachel J. Rojas, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s office in Jacksonville.
Authorities believe the gunman made social media posts criticising the US under a user handle similar to his name, but federal law enforcement officials are investigating whether he wrote the words or just posted them, said the official, who was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.