US sailor shot in Tennessee shooting dies, raises toll to 5

World Today

An FBI investigator investigates the scene of a shooting outside a military recruiting center on Friday, July 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez of Hixson, Tenn., attacked two military facilities on Thursday, in a shooting rampage that killed four Marines. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez pulled up to his military targets in a rented, silver Mustang convertible, wearing a vest with extra ammunition, wielding at least two long guns and a handgun. His once clean-shaven face was covered with a bushy beard. A short time later, four Marines he had shot lay dead. A sailor wounded by him died on Saturday.

The image of Abdulazeez described by investigators doesn’t square with the seemingly ordinary man described by neighbors and classmates: A clean-cut wrestler, the brother of a tennis player, the son of parents who drove no-frills cars. A man who played with the neighborhood kids growing up, gave a lift to a neighbor in a snowstorm.

The 24-year-old Kuwait-born man opened fire on two U.S. military sites in Chattanooga on Thursday. It’s not clear what set him on the path to violence that ended with him being gunned down by police.

On Saturday, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, a reservist serving on active duty at the Chattanooga center, died, bringing the death toll to five.

Abdulazeez did not appear to have been on federal authorities’ radar before the bloodshed Thursday, officials said. But now counter-terrorism investigators are taking a deep look at his online activities and foreign travel.

One federal law enforcement official said investigators did not immediately find an extensive online presence involving the gunman, 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, or evidence that he was directly influenced or inspired by the Islamic State.

The official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Report by Associated Press.