U.S. Marines name victims of Tennessee shooting as investigation continues

The Marine Corps on Friday identified three sergeants and a corporal who were slain in Chattanooga, Tenn., when a gunman opened fire on a Navy Reserve center. The slain Marines were identified as Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan of Hampden, Mass.; Staff Sgt. David Wyatt of Burke, N.C.; Sgt. Carson Holmquist of Polk, Wis.; and Lance Cpl. Squire Wells of Cobb, Ga. The FBI identified the shooter as Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, who was slain by police after he opened fire at the Navy center and a joint U.S. military recruiting center. Three other people were wounded in the shooting spree.

We are looking at every possible avenue, whether it was terrorism, whether it’s domestic, international, or whether it was a simple criminal act.

FBI agent Ed Reinhold told the AP

Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez appears to be law enforcement’s worst nightmare — a homegrown, under-the-radar jihadi sympathizer unknown to authorities until he strikes. From Sydney to Paris to Washington, the threat of the “lone wolf” keeps Western intelligence officials up at night, as they try to figure out better ways to home in on potential attackers — and catch them before it’s too late. FBI Director James Comey said last week that the IS group — seemingly behind a plot in France to strike a military base — is using Twitter and encrypted messaging platforms to draw new followers and persuade them to kill.

This is the event we’ve been most worried about, and then it happened. We can only stop so much…

Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee

chattanooga Americas