Saudi officials are investigating if a Saudi national who killed three men on a Navy base in Pensacola, Florida, was radicalized on a trip to the kingdom last year.
Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani opened fire with a handgun in a classroom at Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday morning, killing three and injuring at least seven others before being shot dead by authorities. Alshamrani was a 21-year-old second lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force who had been participating in a U.S. training program since 2017.
Alshamrani left the United States in late 2018 to return to Saudi Arabia for a few months. He returned to the U.S. in February 2019. Saudi authorities are now retracing Alshamrani’s steps over the trip to determine who he met with, what he did, and if he was radicalized.
The FBI is investigating the Friday shooting and treating it as an act of terrorism, special agent in charge of the investigation Rachel Rojas said in a Sunday press conference. Eighty FBI agents are working on the case.
U.S. authorities have detained six other Saudi nationals for questioning in the shooting, though officials have not determined that the shooter had help or was working with anyone else. Three of the people detained were seen filming the shooting on cell phones.
Saudi Arabia has sent its soldiers to train in the U.S. under U.S. military guidance before. All Saudi nationals who take part in the training program are vetted by both countries for possible terrorist ties or leanings.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud called President Trump to express condolences for those killed in the attack on Friday. Trump relayed the message via Twitter.
“King Salman of Saudi Arabia just called to express his sincere condolences and give his sympathies to the families and friends of the warriors who were killed and wounded in the attack that took place in Pensacola, Florida,” Trump said.
