A day after a gunman opened fire at two military centers in Chattanooga, Tn., and killed four Marines, authorities are trying to answer the big question: Why? NPR say authorities are yet to determine a motive for the shooting by Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, of the Chattanooga suburb of Hixson, who died during the course of the attack. Adbulazeez was a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Kuwait. His parents are Jordanian. FBI agent Ed Reinhold said there is nothing that “directly ties [the gunman] to an international terrorist organization.”
Abdulazeez’s father was investigated for ties to terrorism a couple of years ago. The Washington Post says he was added and later removed from a terrorism watch list. People who knew Adbulazeez told news media that they were surprised that he would do a thing like this. The Chattanooga Times Free Press says that no one seems to have seen it coming. FBI officials said they had no warning of a pending attack. His family and friends are baffled. CNN reports that Abdulazeez was a wrestler and also a devout Muslim. The New York Times points to a blog that the SITE Intelligence Group, an organization that tracks international terrorist groups, says was kept by Abdulazeez. A July 13 post stated that ‘life is short and bitter’ and that Muslims should not let ‘the opportunity to submit to Allah … pass you by.’