Pensacola Base Shooting Update: Training For Saudi Students Suspended By Navy

The U.S. Navy on Tuesday grounded Saudi military trainees at Naval Air Station Pensacola and two other bases in Florida following Friday’s shooting that left four people dead, including the Saudi air force trainee who opened fire.

The Navy said the hundreds of other international students at the base will resume classes and flight training.

No motive has been released for the shooting, but the FBI is considering it a terrorist incident.

The shooting in a classroom building also left eight people injured just a day after the gunman, identified as 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, 21, reportedly showed videos of mass shootings at a Thursday night dinner party. The New York Times quoted sources as saying Alshamrani and three other Saudi military trainees visited a number of sights in New York earlier in the week, but it was unclear whether they were just playing tourists or scouting sites.

SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terror groups on the internet, reported a Twitter account that appeared to belong to Alshamrani featured posts criticizing the U.S. “invasion” of many countries along with its support of Israel.

SITE said though Alshamrani, who legally purchased a handgun from a Florida gun dealer in July, did not claim allegiance to any terror group, he echoed the late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

“What I see from America is the supporting of Israel, which is invasion of Muslim countries,” he said in a typo-filled post. “I see invasion of many countries by its troops. I see Guantánamo Bay. I see cruise missiles, cluster bombs and UAV.”

CNN reported the gunman had more than 2,700 tweets under his name, @M7md_Shamrani. The account has since been suspended.

The Washington Post, quoting sources, reported Alshamrani’s personality changed following a trip home. The sources said he appeared angry in the weeks leading up to the rampage. Classmates said he appeared withdrawn and sullen.

“He looked like he was angry at the world,” the owner of an Indian restaurant that Shamrani and several other Saudi students regularly patronized between classes told the Post.

Saudi officials described Alshamrani as “well-liked” and an excellent student.

The city of Pensacola suffered a cyberattack just days after the base attack and investigators were trying to determine if the incidents were related, the Wall Street Journal reported.