Pensacola shooting suspect was Saudi student, US official says
WASHINGTON - A U.S. official says the Florida Naval station shooting suspect was an aviation student from Saudi Arabia and authorities are investigating if the shooting was terrorism-related.
Military from around the globe attend the Naval Air Station in Pensacola.
RELATED: 4 killed, including gunman, several injured in shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola
The shooter opened fire in a classroom building on Friday morning. The attack that left four people dead, including the assailant and multiple people, wounded.
Eleven people were shot all together, including two sheriff's deputies who were the first to respond, one of whom killed the shooter, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said. One of the deputies was shot in the arm and the other in the knee, and both were expected to recover, he said.
Commanding base officer Capt. Timothy Kinsella Jr. would not say if the shooter belonged to the military and said he did not want to speculate on whether the shooting was terrorism-related.
Part of the Pensacola base resembles a college campus, with buildings where 60,000 members of the Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard receive training each year in multiple fields of aviation.
The base is home is home to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team, and includes the National Naval Aviation Museum, a popular regional tourist attraction.
The shooting is the second at a U.S. naval base this week. A sailor whose submarine was docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, opened fire on three civilian employees Wednesday, killing two before taking his own life.
Kinsella Jr. says the base will remain closed until further notice.
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