Chattanooga shootings: Motive of gunman still not clear

An FBI official says it is premature to speculate on the motive of the gunman who killed four marines in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Ed Reinhold, the FBI special agent in charge of the investigation, said it has not been confirmed whether the gunman identified as Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez acted alone.

Investigators have approximately 70 leads in the case and do not believe there is an immediate threat to citizens in the Chattanooga area.

Twenty-four-year-old Abdulazeez was shot to death by police after firing at two military facilities on Thursday in Chattanooga. Officials said there has been no indication that Abdulazeez was inspired by anyone or any group.

The suspect, seen driving an open-top Ford Mustang, first went to a joint military recruiting centre in a strip mall and sprayed it with gunfire, riddling the glass facade with bullet holes. The gunman then drove to a naval reserve center about 10 kilometres away, fatally shooting the four marines before being shot and killed in afirefightwith police.

Abdulazeez had at least two long guns and one handgun on him during the attacks. Reinhold said at a news conference Friday that some of the gun purchases were legal and some were not. The gunman was also wearing a load-bearing vest that allowed him to move about while carrying additional ammunition.

• 4 U.S. marines dead after shooting in Tennessee

Failed background check

Abdulazeezgraduated from Red Bank High School in Chattanooga, where he was on the wrestling team.

He got an engineering degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2012 and worked as an intern a few years ago at the Tennessee Valley Authority, the federally owned utility that operates power plants and dams across the South.

He was conditionally hired as an engineer at the Perry nuclear power plant near Cleveland and spent 10 days there before he was let go in May 2013 because he failed a background check, said Todd Schneider, aFirstEnergyCorp. spokesman. Schneider would not say why.

For the last three months, he had been working at SuperiorEssexInc., which designs and makes wire and cable products.

In April, he was arrested on a drunken driving charge, and amugshotshowed him with a bushy beard.

Gunman's travel probed

U.S. law enforcement officials said they are investigating whether he was inspired by Islamic State or a similar group.

Islamic Statein Iraq and Syria had threatened to step up violence in the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ends on Friday night.

The extremist group, also known as ISIS and ISIL, claimed responsibility when a gunman in Tunisia opened fire at a popular tourist hotel and killed 37 people in June. On the same day, there was an attack in France and a suicide bombing in Kuwait.

Authorities are investigating trips that the suspecttook to the Middle East, including at least one to Jordan and a possible visit to Yemen, a source close to the probe said on Friday.

The SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist groups, said that Abdulazeez blogged on Monday that "life is short and bitter" and Muslims should not miss an opportunity to "submit to Allah." Reuters could not independently verify the blog postings.

The New York Times, citing unnamed law enforcement officials, reported that the suspected shooter's father had been investigated several years ago over possible ties to a foreign terrorist organization. His name was later removed from a terror watch list.

Decorated marines killed

The U.S. Marine Corps has identified the four men killed in the attack. They were Gunnery Sgt. Thomas J. Sullivan, Staff Sgt. David A. Wyatt, Sgt. Carson A.Holmquistand Lance Cpl. Squire K. Wells, who a family spokesperson says went by the nickname Skip.

Sullivan was deployed twice during the Iraq war and received two Purple Hearts. Wyatt was deployed during both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, whileHolmquistwas deployed to Afghanistan.

The attacks, which comes at a time when U.S. military and law enforcement authorities are increasingly concerned about the threat "lone wolves" pose to domestic targets, also injured three people, including a sailor who was critically wounded.