The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saudi pilot carries out deadly base attack
Three dead, several wounded before shooter killed by cops.
PENSACOLA, FLA. — A Saudi Arabian military pilot training in the United States opened fire with a handgun Friday morning at Naval Air Station Pensacola, leaving three people dead and several others wounded before Florida sheriff ’s deputies shot and killed him. It was the second deadly shooting at a U.S. naval base this week.
U.S. and Saudi government officials Friday evening identified the gunman as Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani. The Saudi national was training in the U.S. in accordance with a U.S. Air Force train
ing program funded by Saudi Arabia, according to Pentagon spokesman Chris Garver.
Alshamrani’s program , which started in August of 2017 and was scheduled to conclude in August of 2020, included English language study, basic aviation and initial pilot training.
As FBI officials leading the investigation scrutinize potential social media accounts of the shooter, FBI spokeswoman Amanda Videll said the bureau has not established a motive and is trying to determine whether the shooting is a case of terrorism.
“We have not at this hour determined one way or the other whether it is terrorism or not,” Videll said.
President Donald Trump said on Twitter that Saudi King Salman had called him “to express his sincere condolences and give his sympathies.”
“The King said that the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter, and that this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people,” Trump tweeted.
Reports of an active shooting inside an air station classroom came in at 6:51 a.m., drawing a major law enforcement response in the Florida Panhandle city.
The base was placed on lockdown, the Navy said, with its gates secured. After about an hour, the sheriff ’s office announced that the shooter was dead.
NAS Commanding Officer Capt. Timothy Kinsella declined to specify which classroom had been targeted, saying in a Friday news conference he did not want to cause alarm to families of air station employees who were still in the process of being notified. Kinsella noted that weapons are not authorized on base except for security forces.
It remained unclear Friday evening whether the three people killed in the attack were service members or civilians, said Lt. Cmdr. Megan Isaac, a Navy spokeswoman. Multiple people were taken to area hospitals, including two Escambia County sheriff’s deputies who are expected to survive. NAS Pensacola said in a statement Friday afternoon it was withholding the names of the victims until 24 hours after the next-ofkin were notified.
Baptist Health Care said it had admitted eight patients but could not yet report on their conditions.
A core message in the updates from officials throughout the day focused on the quick response and heroism by law enforcement.
“I can tell you lives were saved because of the response of people both in uniform with the Navy and in uniform with Escambia County Sheriff’s Office,”
‘I can tell you lives were saved because of the response of people both in uniform with the Navy and in uniform with Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.’ Gov. Ron DeSantis
Florida
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “In one of the darkest days, I think, in the base’s history, you still saw some of that bravery and grit come out.”
The incident shook a community whose identity is deeply entwined with the base, with many residents either employed there or tied to the industry that sprawls alongside Pensacola Bay. The number of personnel assigned at the base is almost half the population of the city itself.
DeSantis said the state’s emergency management agency had deployed an official to coordinate mental health resources for those impacted by the shooting. He said he had talked to Trump about the need for the Saudi Arabian government to help victims, adding that “they’re going to owe a debt here.”
“I think there’s obviously going to be a lot of questions about this individual being a foreign national, being a part of the Saudi air force and then to be here training on our soil,” he said.
Naval Air Station Pensacola, which hosts 16,000 military personnel and more than 7,000 civilians, is known as the “cradle of Naval aviation.” It’s home to the Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron and is the first stop for training to become Naval pilots or flight officers.
The air station schoolhouse also trains pilots from partner militaries in more than 120 countries, including Saudi airmen.
The Navy-run international training center offers an eight-week preparatory training course in basic aviation for cadets from the Royal Saudi Air Force who go on to train with the U.S. Air Force, according to a Navy website.