Defense

Report: Navy officer and Marine fired upon Chattanooga gunman

Chattanooga, shooting, navy
Michael Ball / Twitter

A Navy officer and a Marine fired their sidearms at the gunman who killed five service members last week in Chattanooga, according to the Navy Times. 

It is unclear whether either hit the gunman, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, according to the paper.

{mosads}Abdulazeez, a 24-year-old Kuwaiti-born citizen, opened fired last Thursday on an armed forces recruiting center before attacking a Navy and Marine Reserve Center, where he killed four Marines and injured a sailor, who later died. 

According to a report distributed among senior Navy leaders, the two troops who fired on Abdulazeez were Lt. Cmd. Timothy White, the reserve center’s commanding officer, as well as one of the slain Marines. 

The Washington Post first reported that the Marine may have been carrying a 9mm Glock and possibly returned fire on the gunman. 

The report is raising questions over why the service members were armed, since it is against Defense Department policy for troops other than military police or law enforcement to carry weapons on federal property. 

Since the shooting last Thursday, a handful of lawmakers have proposed legislation that would allow for some troops to be armed at recruiting centers and other military facilities, given a rising threat from Islamic extremist-inspired attacks.

Those killed in the attack were Marine Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, Lance Cpl. Squire K. Wells, Staff Sgt. David Wyatt and Sgt. Carson Holmquist. Navy Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Randall Smith died on July 18. 

Tags Armed Attack

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

See all Hill.TV See all Video

Most Popular

Load more

Video

See all Video