Investigators learned that a few days before the shooting, al-Shamrani and at least five other Saudi airmen traveled to New York City, where they visited tourist sites including the 9/11 memorial (above)
The Saudi gunman who killed three people at a naval base in Pensacola and wounded either others visited the September 11 memorial in New York City just days before the shooting and also filed a complaint against an instructor earlier this year, according to investigators.
Senior law enforcement officials also say that the killer, Second Lt. Mohammed Saeed al-Shamrani, 21, made preparations for the shooting by filing paperwork to purchase a gun in April.
The revelations about al-Shamrani’s movements are part of efforts by investigators to establish an exact timeline in the weeks leading up to Friday’s shooting rampage, according to The Daily Beast.
As of Sunday, investigators have no indication that al-Shamrani was helped by others.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed several Saudi airman who, like al-Shamrani, were in the United States as part of a military training program.
None of those Saudis appear to have had any involvement in the shooting, law enforcement officials told The Daily Beast.
The Saudis told investigators that they also noticed nothing unusual about al-Shamrani’s behavior during his trip to New York from November 28 until December 1.
During that time, al-Shamrani met up with at least five other Saudi airmen. They stayed at a lower-end hotel in midtown Manhattan.
The Saudis visited New York’s most popular tourist destinations, including the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, and the 9/11 museum, according to investigators.
‘All the places they went were all the places tourists go see what this country’s all about,’ one investigator told The Daily Beast.
Law enforcement officials said that the group of Saudis which included al-Shamrani also visited popular tourist sites like the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center (left) and the Statue of Liberty (right)
Investigators noted that the 9/11 museum has pictures on display of the hijackers – 15 of whom were Saudi nationals.
Three days after returning home to Florida, al-Shamrani hosted a dinner party for his fellow Saudis.
It was during that event that he screened a disturbing video showing a montage of mass shootings.
After the shooting, a number of the Saudi airmen took cell phone video near the scene.
But investigators say they were merely doing what any other curious onlooker would do when seeing a large number of emergency vehicles descend on the area.
Investigators combed through the cell phone footage and found nothing unusual that would arouse their suspicions, according to The Daily Beast.
‘Nothing before the fact, nothing during,’ one law enforcement official said.
Meanwhile, new information has been gleaned about the long process that al-Shamrani went through to legally obtain the 9mm Glock 45 semiautomatic pistol used in the shooting.
The Daily Beast learned that al-Shamrani obtained a Florida hunting license that allowed him to take advantage of a loophole in federal law banning foreign nationals from buying a gun.
Law enforcement officials also said that al-Shamrani went through the months-long process of legally obtaining a Glock 45 9mm handgun
The loophole allows foreigners with a valid visa to buy a gun if ‘in possession of a hunting license or permit lawfully issued in the United States.’
One investigator said al-Shamrani’s choice of a Glock 45 with an extended magazine meant that the only thing he intended to hunt was ‘people.’
According to The Daily Beast, the gun shop in Pensacola which sold the weapon to al-Shamrani checked with authorities to confirm the validity of his visa.
The Saudi national was issued the visa in Riyadh. He arrived for military training in the US in August 2017.
In late July, al-Shamrani completed the 15-week process to buy the gun despite the fact that he was not allowed to carry the weapon onto the premises of the Naval Air Station in Pensacola.
By law, al-Shamrani also would not have been able to board an airplane with the weapon if he were to fly back to his native Saudi Arabia.
Investigators are now trying to figure out if al-Shamrani acted alone or if he was recruited and groomed as a sort of ‘sleeper agent.’
If al-Shamrani was intent on killing Americans, investigators want to know why he bought a gun instead of waiting to come into possession of a far more powerful weapon that could maximize casualties, like a fighter jet armed with missiles or bombs.