Suspect in deadly shooting at Florida naval base was reportedly a Saudi pilot in the US for training

rpickrell@businessinsider.com (Ryan Pickrell)
2019 12 06T153141Z_1344054150_RC2RPD9F8T83_RTRMADP_3_FLORIDA SHOOTING.JPG
2019 12 06T153141Z_1344054150_RC2RPD9F8T83_RTRMADP_3_FLORIDA SHOOTING.JPG

US Navy

  • The suspect in a deadly shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida on Friday is reportedly a foreign national who was in the US for training.

  • Citing law-enforcement officials, NBC first reported that the suspect was a foreign national.

  • The Associated Press cited a US official as saying the suspect was a Saudi aviation student.

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The suspect in the deadly shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola on the Florida Panhandle on Friday was reportedly a foreign national, specifically a member of Saudi Arabia's military.

The suspect in the shooting, who killed three and injured seven, was described as a "foreign national who was here in the United States for training" by NBC's Pete Williams, who cited law enforcement officials. The suspect was said to have come from a Middle Eastern country.

Citing a US official, The Associated Press then reported that the suspect was a Saudi aviation student, adding that authorities were investigating whether the shooting at the base was terrorism-related.

The Washington Post, citing a US official, also reported that the "gunman was a military pilot from Saudi Arabia training in the United States." The New York Times reported that the suspect was a member of the Saudi Air Force.

Multiple law enforcement officials, according to NBC, have identified the suspect as Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani

President Donald Trump tweeted Friday afternoon that King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud called to express his condolences.

The shooting began just before 7 a.m. CT and lasted about an hour, until local law-enforcement officers fatally shot the shooter.

The Escambia County Sheriff's Office has reported that two people were killed in the shooting and that one died at a local hospital.

Seven others, including two responding officers, were injured.

The shooting came on the heels of Wednesday's deadly shooting at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, where a Navy sailor shot and killed two shipyard workers and wounded another before taking his own life..

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