The Saudi Air Force trainee who killed three and injured eight when he opened fire at a naval base in Florida on Friday had a disturbing change in personality after returning from his native country in the weeks leading up to the deadly violence.
School mates and others who knew the 21-year-old man, identified as Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, said he returned from Saudi Arabia acting ‘strange’ and ‘angry’.
The owner of an Indian restaurant frequented by Alshamrani said ‘he looked like he was angry at the world,’ upon his return.
Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, the Saudi Air Force trainee who killed three and injured eight when he opened fire at a naval base in Florida on Friday, had a disturbing change in personality after he returned from his native country, say school mates and others who knew him
School mates and others who knew Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, said he returned from Saudi Arabia (pictured) acting ‘strange’ and ‘angry’
The restaurant owner asked that he and his business not to be identified, for fear of a backlash for speaking publicly, the Washington Post reports.
Alshamrani was alleged to have opened fire inside a classroom at Naval Air Station in Pensacola early Friday morning.
Using a Glock 9mm handgun he’d purchased by exploiting a legal loophole, Alshamrani opened fire in a classroom at the base, killing Airman Mohammed Sameh Hathaim, 19, Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, and Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters, 21.
Eight others, including two deputies, were wounded in a gunfight with Alshamrani, who was later shot dead by police.
The victims and survivors may become candidates for the Purple Heart, if the attack was deemed inspired by a terrorist organization, according to the award’s guidelines.
That question has yet to be determined by authorities.
What they did learn was that days before the gunfire erupted, Alshamrani hosted a dinner party for himself and three other Saudi trainees where they all watched videos of mass shootings together.
He also was found to have penned a hate-fueled manifesto on Twitter just hours before the violence erupted, according to an intelligence group who tracked down his account.
Alshamrani had been a second lieutenant in the Saudi Air Force attending aviation school at the base. The Pentagon says his training with the US military began in August 2016, and was due to finish in August 2020.
An Air Force carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Navy Ensign Joshua Watson on Sunday at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware
An Air Force carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Navy Seaman Mohammed Sameh Haitham, of St. Petersburg, Fla., Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, center, and Navy Admiral Michael Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations, right, the remains of Navy Seaman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters, of Richmond Hill, Georgia, arrive at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, on Sunday
A Saudi government official who knew Alshamrani offered a stark contrast to the alleged-hate filled person who has emerged from the investigation so far.
The official said Alshamrani was a top student, who was ‘well-liked and kept to himself’, the Post reports.
The official also said that the Saudi government had been unaware Alshamrani filed a formal complaint against one of his instructors who ‘infuriated’ him with a derogatory nickname, ‘Porn Stash’ in front of his fellow classmates, the New York Times reports.
The FBI declined to comment on the alleged comment made by the instructor.
The good-natured persona used to describe him was echoed by others who spoke with investigators, reports the Washington Post, including classmates who said he was quiet, reserved and rarely spoke in class.
His demeanor, however, changed they said after the trip to Saudi Arabia. The owner of a Pensacola eatery that Alshamrani visited once a week said he was ‘strange’, ‘quiet’ and angry’.
‘To us, he was not normal,” the eatery owner said.
He recalled Alshamrani staring at him and his staff in an “angry, challenging” way.
But there was no sign of religious extremism. For example, he didn’t ask if the restaurant served halal meat, which is eaten by observant Muslims.
The owner of the Indian restaurant said Alshamrani was one of seven or eight Saudis who visited his restaurant up to two times per week, usually after Friday prayers, the Washington Post reports.
Several business owners said they were questioned by law enforcement after the shooting. None of the people who said they knew Alshamrani recalled him discussing religion or politics.
His Twitter account, however, did reveal that he assailed the United States as ‘a nation of evil’ just before his shooting rampage.
On Friday evening, the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist media, claimed they had tracked a Twitter account belonging to Alshamrani which featured a disturbing manifesto written just hours before the shooting.
‘I’m against evil, and America as a whole has turned into a nation of evil’, it read.
‘I’m not against you for just being American, I don’t hate you because your freedoms, I hate you because every day you supporting, funding and committing crimes not only against Muslims but also humanity’, Alshamrani wrote.
ABC News reported that investigators were working to determine if if the tweet was in fact written by the shooter.
The Twitter account that posted the manifesto – which also condemned US support for Israel and included a quote from Al-Qaeda’s deceased leader, the Saudi Osama bin Laden – has now been suspended.