Saudi kills 3 in Fla. naval base rampage
Deputies fatally shoot the gunman, who was a military student receiving training in Pensacola
PENSACOLA, Fla. — A Saudi Arabian military student opened fire with a handgun Friday at Naval Air Station Pensacola, leaving three people dead and several others wounded before sheriff’s deputies shot and killed him, officials said.
The harrowing shootout at the home of the Navy’s fabled Blue Angels aerial demonstration team was the second instance of deadly gunfire at a U.S. naval base in three days. On Wednesday, a sailor opened fire at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, killing two and injuring a third, before killing himself.
The Pensacola shooting began just as the sun was rising in the Florida Panhandle, and by the afternoon, the FBI had taken command as the lead investigative agency, seeking to determine whether the gunman’s history or any social media posts pointed to terrorism or some other motive, officials said.
“We have not at this hour determined one way or the other whether it is terrorism or not,” FBI spokeswoman Amanda Videll said.
U.S. and Saudi government officials identified the gunman as Ahmed Mohammed al-Shamrani, who had been receiving aviation training at the base. Officials said investigators are also working to determine what, if anything, Shamrani’s fellow students knew about his intentions.
The deadly violence at the hands of a Saudi military student on an American base threatens to further complicate relations between the two countries, but President Donald Trump struck a measured tone on Twitter, saying 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.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement declaring its “deep distress” over the incident and pledging to “provide full support to the U.S. authorities to investigate the circumstances of this crime.”
Trump’s restraint stood in contrast to some of his past reactions to violence by people from predominantly Muslim countries.
Hours after eight people were killed in a 2017 alleged terrorist attack in New York City, Trump demanded officials “step up our already extreme vetting program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!” As a presidential candidate, the president once declared that “Islam hates us.”
‘A dark day’
After Friday’s shooting in Florida, state officials called for closer scrutiny of the training program that brought the gunman to the United States and said the Saudi government should pay compensation to his victims.
“This is a dark day for a very great place,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican. “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, to do this.”
Saudi Arabia “needs to make things better for these victims, and I think they’re going to owe a debt here,” DeSantis added.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said he was “extremely concerned” by the issues raised by the shooting and called for a review of all programs that place foreign nationals with U.S. military personnel.
“Whether this individual was motivated by radical Islam or was simply mentally unstable, this was an act of terrorism,” Scott said. “It’s clear that we need to take steps to ensure that any and all foreign nationals are scrutinized and vetted extensively before being embedded with our American men and women in uniform.”
The Department of Defense operates a robust effort to train foreign military officers, with more than 5,000 such foreign students from 153 countries in the United States, officials said.
Those foreign nationals are vetted through a screening process that includes searching databases for evidence of drug trafficking, support for terrorist activity, corruption and criminal conduct, officials said.
Pentagon officials said Shamrani’s training with the U.S. military began in August 2016 and was scheduled to finish in August 2020.
It was not immediately clear whether the three deceased victims were service members or civilians. Multiple people were taken to area hospitals. Among them were two Escambia County sheriff ’s deputies who are expected to survive.
Baptist Health Care said it had admitted eight patients from the shooting but could not yet report on their conditions. “Our teams are treating patients and we are working with Navy personnel to communicate with family members,” the hospital said in a statement.
‘Some real heroism’
The first reports of a shooting inside an air station classroom came in at 6:51 a.m., when law enforcement officers began rushing toward the incident while Navy officials placed the base on lockdown. After about an hour, authorities said the gunman was dead.
“There was some real heroism today,” said the base’s commanding officer, Capt. Timothy F. Kinsella. “I am devastated, we are in shock, this is surreal, but I couldn’t be prouder to wear the uniform that I wear because of my brothers and sisters in uniform, civilian or otherwise, that did what they did today to save lives.”
The FBI investigation is being aided by military investigators, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local police.
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan warned that because of the nature of an attack on a military base by a foreign national, investigators would not be able to reveal everything they learn about the case.
“Do not expect quick answers,” the sheriff said. “There’s going to be some parts of this investigation … that you may never have access to, just because of … who we’re dealing with. That will be extremely frustrating for you.”
Civilian and military investigators spent Friday afternoon poring over the gunman’s military history and other records, including social media, for clues about what might have motivated him.
Friday’s incident shook a community whose identity is deeply entwined with the base, with many residents either employed there or tied to related businesses that sprawl alongside Pensacola Bay.
Jana Lormer, who is renovating her grandmother’s home directly across the bayou from the base, comes from a long line of service members — like many in the neighborhood. She said the area’s usual sense of quiet had been shattered.
“I woke up and opened my texts to all of these messages and then looked across the water to see all the ambulances on the bridge,” she said. “It was too close for comfort.”
The facility hosts 16,000 military personnel and more than 7,000 civilians.
“For 200 years, they have been a part of the city of Pensacola,” Mayor Grover C. Robinson IV said during a news conference. “We’re a military town.”