Official: Florida naval base shooter hosted dinner party to watch mass shooting videos before attack

PENSACOLA, Fla. - A US official says the Saudi student who fatally shot three people at a Florida naval base had hosted a dinner party the night before to watch videos of mass shootings. The official was briefed by federal investigators and spoke on condition of anonymity.

He says authorities tell him one Saudi student was recording outside the building while the shooting took place. He says 10 Saudi students are being held at the base and that several others are still unaccounted for.

A gate at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida is pictured in a file photo. (Photo credit: U.S. Military)

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U.S. officials investigating the deadly attack by a Saudi aviation student at a naval air station in Florida were working Saturday to determine whether it was motivated by terrorism. 

An ambulance is parked outside of Ascension Sacred Heart Medical Park after a shooting was reported at Naval Air Station Pensacola on Dec. 6, 2019. (Photo credit: WALA-TV)

An aviation student from Saudi Arabia opened fire in a classroom at the Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday morning, killing three people. The assault, which prompted a massive law enforcement response and base lockdown, ended when a sheriff’s deputy killed the attacker. Eight people were hurt in the attack, including the deputy and a second deputy who was with him.

RELATED: 6 Saudis arrested for questioning after NAS Pensacola shooting: official

Family members on Saturday identified one of the victims as a 23-year-old recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who alerted first responders to where the shooter was even after he had been shot several times.