Official: Base shooter watched shooting videos before attack

[demmiblue]

Source: AP

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A US official says the Saudi student who fatally shot three people at a Florida naval base had hosted a dinner party the night before to watch videos of mass shootings. The official was briefed by federal investigators and spoke on condition of anonymity. He says authorities tell him one Saudi student was recording outside the building while the shooting took place. He says 10 Saudi students are being held at the base and that several others are still unaccounted for.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — U.S. officials investigating the deadly attack by a Saudi aviation student at a naval air station in Florida were working Saturday to determine whether it was motivated by terrorism.

An aviation student from Saudi Arabia opened fire in a classroom at the Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday morning, killing three people. The assault, which prompted a massive law enforcement response and base lockdown, ended when a sheriff’s deputy killed the attacker. Eight people were hurt in the attack, including the deputy and a second deputy who was with him.

Family members on Saturday identified one of the victims as a 23-year-old recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who alerted first responders to where the shooter was even after he had been shot several times.

Read more: https://apnews.com/75a8adc71422596a54052540fabb7230?utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow

---

Link to tweet

[Me.]

1. I Think It Has A Long Way To Go Too

Especially as the ramifications have yet to really sink in.

[demmiblue]

2. UPDATED:

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — The Saudi student who fatally shot three people at a U.S. naval base in Florida hosted a dinner party earlier in the week where he and three others watched videos of mass shootings, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Saturday.

One of the three students who attended the dinner party videotaped outside the building while the shooting was taking place at Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity after being briefed by federal authorities. Two other Saudi students watched from a car, the official said.

The official said 10 Saudi students were being held on the base Saturday while several others were unaccounted for.

U.S. officials had previously told the AP they were investigating possible links to terrorism.

[Karma13612]

3. No excuses.

Send back every last one of the Saudi military students.

This is just plain naive that we can train Saudi nationals after 9-11, on our soil.

[killaphill]

12. This sounds like profiling to me

And quite frankly, an Islamaphobic response.

[Karma13612]

14. No it wasn't

I specifically stated the Saudi Military students.

If we want to train them, then we can do it in the field or other appropriate areas. After what happened to Jamal Koshoghi, not to mention 9-11, I don’t have any more patience for us being nice to countries that have been proven to have done us harm. At least not on our soil where many lives can and have been lost. I’m not Islamaphobic in the least. I am sick of death that can be avoided. The military needs to do a better job of screening the foreign military who come to the US to train. And it would appear that they agree considering their level of response to this latest ‘attack’.

[Kali]

4. the dangers of training people to kill

war culture is a dangerous tool that societies need to handle very carefully. my comment has nothing to do with country of origin, either.

[marble falls]

5. So there weren't any warning signs ...

<insert sarcasm emoji here>

[JohnnyRingo]

6. Apparently, Saudis have a hard time getting flight lessons these days.

...What with that 9/11 thing and all. It appears this guy breezed right over that hurdle, but orders up a mass shooting video on the internet.

That could have been a red flag right there, but I don't believe a free country should have profiled watch lists, so it's hard to stop someone with hate in their heart and access to a weapon. He won't do it again I guess.

[lostnfound]

9. Are they learning to fly the new F15s trump is sending them?

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/saudi-arabia-arms-deal-trump-what-to-know/

[JohnnyRingo]

10. I was thinking about that too.

If he was training in a front line fighter, that would have made a much better weapon of terror. Maybe he only wanted to murder specific people for personal reasons.

[PSPS]

7. will trump spirit them safely back to saudi arabia like bush did on 9/11?

[Flaleftist]

8. He was training to be a pilot?

So at one point, would he have been on a training mission in a US jet where he could have done a lot more damage?

[oldsoftie]

11. Thast what doesnt make any sense; why not wait until you're in the air with a plane?

Unless he realized he sucked & would never fly, but i'd imagine they only sent the best over here

[christx30]

13. I was just wondering if he was taking the whole "landing" part of the class,

or if he was skipping those as unimportant.