As Chattanooga Shooting Investigation Continues, Family Says Shooter Depressed, Offers Condolences To Victims’ Families

As the Chattanooga shooting investigation continues, the FBI is trying to determine a motive as to why Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez shot to death four Marines and a Navy seaman. Currently the FBI believes the Chattanooga shooting is a result of a lone gunman attack and not some larger series of attacks yet to happen.

As reported in the Washington Post, the FBI continues to try and piece together the life of Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, a naturalized citizen who was born in Jordan. According to White House Press secretary Josh Earnest, the FBI is looking at a wide variety of motives to determine why the marines were killed.

“The FBI made clear yesterday that they are looking at a variety of possible motives, including the possibility of domestic terrorism. So that is a part of their ongoing investigation.”

According to his family, he was depressed, as stated in a release published by a family representative and shared with NPR. In addition to the statement made by the family about their son’s depression, they also expressed condolences to those who had lost family members in the Chattanooga shooting.

“The person who committed this horrible crime was not the son we knew and loved. For many years, our son suffered from depression. It grieves us beyond belief to know that his pain found its expression in this heinous act of violence.”

One official said that there was a change in Abdulazeez after a trip he made to Jordan in 2014 that might have led to the Chattanooga shooting.

“All indications from the interviews is that there is something different about him after he returned home. He was different, but it does not appear that he was showing the typical outward signs of someone who was going to lash out violently. It does not appear from the interviews that he was saying a lot of anti-U.S. things to his friends.”

Abdulazeez, who was killed in the Chattanooga shooting after he fled the Marine recruiting station, led very divergent lives. Offline, he had graduated college with a degree in electrical engineering and had completed several internships. Although he had a briefly troubled family life when his mother filed for divorce in 2009, neighbors reported that he was happy and smiling as evidenced in a recently released family photo.

Online was a different story as he wrote in his blog. He described his existence as a “prison” of monotony and routine. The FBI said that he sent a Koranic text to a friend shortly before the Chattanooga shooting. As reported in a Reuters exclusive, the text said the following.

“Whosoever shows enmity to a friend of Mine, then I have declared war against him.”

The FBI didn’t indicate whether or not they considered this to be a reason to consider this an act of terrorism as the Chattanooga shooting is still under investigation and the FBI is looking at all leads.

In addition to offering condolences to the families of the Chattanooga shooting victims, the family also stated that they were cooperating with the investigation into the Chattanooga shooting.

“We understand there are many legitimate questions that need to be answered. Having said this, now is the time to reflect on the victims and their families, and we feel it would be inappropriate to say anything more other than that we are truly sorry for their loss.”

In a related story published in Inquisitr, Donald Trump called for a lifting of the gun ban as he believes the Charleston shooting could have been avoided if the Marines had been armed.

What do you think is his motive for the Chattanooga shooting? Could this shooting have been avoided?

[Photo Credit CNN]