CHATTANOOGA, Tenn./WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The suspect in the fatal shootings of four U.S. Marines traveled to Jordan and possibly other Middle Eastern countries last year, authorities said yesterday, as the investigation focused on any signs of a connection to Islamist militants.
Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, a Kuwaiti-born naturalized U.S. citizen, died on Thursday in a firefight with police after a rampage at two military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The 24-year-old engineer traveled to Jordan, possibly between April and November, U.S. government sources and friends of Abdulazeez in Chattanooga told Reuters. One childhood friend, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he went there for a job opportunity.
Investigators will try to establish if he was part of an organization or the latest “lone wolf” militant, radicalized U.S. Muslims acting on their own who President Barack Obama has said pose a greater risk to the country than a large-scale operation.
Friends were shocked by the actions of Abdulazeez, who they said lived about 150 miles (241 km) away in Franklin, Tennessee, but had returned to his hometown to visit family for the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ended Thursday.
