Military and federal facilities across the country have gone on high alert in the wake of a terrorism attack by a lone gunman that left four Marines dead, and at least some officials are already taking to national airwaves to assert: The shooter definitely had ties to ISIS.
Three others, including a Marine, a sailor and a police officer, were also injured. Fox News reported the sailor was in serious condition and undergoing surgery on Friday.
The shooter, a lone Islamic gunman named Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, who was shot and killed after he unleashed fire at a Navy recruiting center and a Navy reserve center, was not on any terror watch list. But his father once was, various media reported. The New York Times reported: "Mr. Abdulazeez was not under investigation by the F.B.I. before the shooting, according to a source in the agency. But a law enforcement official said that his father had been investigated years ago for contributing money to an organization that may have had ties to terrorists. The investigation did not result in charges, the official said."
Investigators also found Abdulazeez, who was born in Kuwait and who had emigrated to America and naturalized as a citizen, had made an appeal to fellow Muslims on his blog just a few days ago that read, "Brothers and sisters, don't be fooled by your desires. This life is short and bitter and the opportunity to submit to Allah may pass you by," Fox News reported.
Hundreds gathered at a military facility Thursday evening to honor and grieve the four killed Marines. One killed Marine was a decorated war hero with two Purple Hearts; another was just 19 years old.
President Obama called Abdulazeez a "lone gunman" in a quick press conference on Thursday, as reported by WND. But others with contacts in the intelligence field say that's not true.
U.S. Attorney Bill Killian first said "we are treating this as an act of domestic terrorism," but then backtracked a bit and said in a followup statement it's "premature to speculate on the motives of the shooter."
Josh Katz, a former CIA officer, was much more direct.
"This shooter is going to be shown to have links to ISIS," he said, during an interview on Fox & Friends on Friday morning. "The president needs to come out now can call it an act of terrorism. ... It has to be declared an act of terrorism. We don't need a long drawn-out thing. We know this is an act of terrorism. Let's move on."
The statements come as the Department of Homeland Security has put military and federal facilities around the nation on high alert, and security officials in Chattanooga have done similarly for the community.