Today, around 1pmEST, a gunman opened fire at a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, then drove 7 miles to a Navy Operations Support Center while being chased by police where he killed four U.S. Marines. The shooter also shot a police officer in the ankle and he is recovering at a local hospital. The shooter was killed after a 20 minute shootout at the second location, Navy Operations Support Center.
Our deepest prayers and condolences go out for these four Marines and their families and friends. We wish the police officer a fast recovery.
“We are treating this as an act of domestic terrorism,” said Bill Killian, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee in a press conference two hours after the murders.
The name of the gunman is emerging and two law enforcement sources told CBS News that the shooting suspect was identified as Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez.
If you are just joining our updates please read below for our updates.
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[Update 5]
Two law enforcement sources told CBS News that the shooting suspect was identified as Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez.
[UPDATE 4]
The AP has confirmed that four Marines were killed by the gunman. A police officer was shot in the leg and is in stable condition.
The two locations that were attacked were a Navy Operations Support Center and a recruiting center in a strip mall that had multiple recruiting offices for most branches of the military.
[UPDATE 3]
After all major initial reports reported that four Marines were shot – we are trying to confirm if they were indeed shot. One of the two hospitals in the area said they are treating multiple victims. No word on their condition yet.
The police officer that was shot is in stable condition at the hospital.
The Mayor of Chattanooga is holding a press conference soon to update the nation.
President Obama has been briefed on the situation.
[UPDATE 2]
The shooter is now dead. Reports are not yet saying how the shooter died.
Witnesses report that a high-powered rifle was used in two locations and at one of the locations there was gunfire exchange between the shooter and police officers for approximately 20 minutes.
[UPDATE 1]
Four military personnel, sources say to be Marines, and a police officer were shot today as a shooter opened fire at two different military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The police officer is in stable condition and with his family at the hospital. There is no word on the condition of the military personnel.
The U.S. Navy tweeted Thursday that there has been a shooting at a Navy reserve center on Amnicola Highway in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Navy also said it was investigating a shooting at another Navy building in the city. One witness told CNN that she saw a man fire shots at a building that houses military recruiting offices Thursday morning.
#BREAKING CORRECTION: #USNavy confirms shooting at building on Amnicola Highway.
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) July 16, 2015
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke told reporters that one officer is “down” in connection with the shooting and he was not specific about the condition of the officer.
“This is a very, very terrible situation and we need to go figure out how we can handle it,” he said.
We will be updating this article as details emerge.
Door to recruiting center:
Picture of one of the shooting locations:
Reports of active shooter at military centre in Tennessee http://t.co/wdGoEr96ki pic.twitter.com/dO3IKoJrpy
— CP24 (@CP24) July 16, 2015
More from Fox News
BREAKING NEWS: Gunfire broke out at a U.S. Navy recruiting office in a Tennessee strip mall and at another military facility nearby Thursday morning, bringing a heavy police response and prompting local colleges and a hospital to be placed on lockdown before authorities gave an all-clear.
A police officer wounded in the strip mall shooting in Chattanooga was in surgery and expected to recover, while as many as four Marines injured in a second, possibly related attack at a Naval Reserves Operations Center seven miles away were also wounded. The Navy confirmed the shooting in a tweet, saying it occurred at a building on Amnicola Highway in Chattanooga. Reports said a police officer was injured, and additional reports said four others, possibly Marines, were wounded when a lone gunman drove up in a silver Mustang and opened fire with what witnesses told Fox News was a “large black gun.”
Law enforcement officials told recruiters at a facility 7 miles away on Old Lee Highway that they also were attacked by a shooter in a car. The shooter stopped in front of the recruiting facility, shot at the building and drove off, said Brian Lepley, a spokesman with the U.S. Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox, Ky.
Lepley said the recruiting center on Old Lee Highway has recruiting services for all four branches of the military. The Army recruiters told Lepley they have evacuated and are safe. He has no information about recruiters for the other branches.
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