Chattanooga Shootings Leave Five Dead

Cherriton David

3:01 PM

The Chattanooga Times Free Press is live blogging, "LIVE UPDATES: Attacker identified in shooting attack on military installations that killed four."

And at the Wall Street Journal, "Chattanooga Shootings Leave Four Marines, Sole Gunman Dead":

A gunman opened fire at two military recruiting centers in Chattanooga, Tenn., Thursday, killing four marines before dying from a gunshot wound, authorities said.

“Today is a nightmare for the City of Chattanooga,” said Mayor Andy Berke.

A police officer was also among the injured. Mayor Berke said others also were hurt, but not seriously

The first shooting took place around 10:45 a.m. at a military recruitment center at a shopping area on Lee Highway, east of downtown. The four marines were killed at that center. The suspected gunman then drove away, and a short time later, about 6 miles away, opened fire at a recruitment center near a park by the Tennessee River and wounded the police officer.

The gunman died near that center, officials said.

Officials declined to identify the victims until their families had been notified.

FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Edward Reinhold said the suspected gunman, who he wouldn't identify, lived in the Chattanooga area and died either by gunfire from law enforcement or from a self-inflicted wound.

“We haven't determined whether it was an act of terrorism or a criminal act,” he said. Authorities are investigating “every possible avenue,” he said.

He said the shooting was carried out by a single shooter. “We have no reason to believe anyone else is involved,” he said.

The shooter wasn't an employee of the centers, Mr. Reinhold said...

More.

And at the New York Times, "Gunman Kills 4 Marines at Tennessee Military Site":

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A gunman opened fire on a Navy and Marine reserve center in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Thursday, leaving four Marines dead, and wounding several others, including a Marine recruiter and a police officer, officials said. The gunman was also killed.

“Somebody brutally and brazenly attacked members of our armed services,” the police chief, Fred Fletcher, said during a news conference.

The shooting reportedly began at about 10:45 a.m. at a recruiting center on Lee Highway and ended about 30 minutes later at the reserve center on Amnicola Highway. Armed with numerous weapons, the gunman fired a barrage into the reserve center, officials said, and photographs showed the windows of the site riddled with bullet holes.

United States Attorney Bill Killian said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation would take the lead on the case, which he initially called an “act of domestic terrorism” before backing away, saying that the investigation would determine how the crime should be labeled.

Later, a law enforcement official, who did not want to be identified, said the gunman was Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez. Edward Reinhold, the F.B.I. special agent in charge in Knoxville, said at the news conference that officials believed that the gunman was “probably from this area, or at least is residing in this area prior to the event.”

Mr. Reinhold said hundreds of agents would be involved in the investigation by the end of the day, though he cautioned that “we have no indication that it’s tied to anything at this point.”

Law enforcement officials said that Mr. Abdulazeez had not been under investigation by the F.B.I. but that analysts and agents were combing files for any possible evidence that he had ties to a foreign terrorist group.

All of the deaths occurred at the second shooting scene, which sits between Amnicola Highway and a pathway that runs through Tennessee RiverPark on the Tennessee River northeast of downtown. Many of the businesses nearby are light industry...