Suspect killed in Texas Navy base shooting identified as Syrian-born U.S. citizen


Reuters | Washington DC | Updated: 23-05-2020 03:00 IST | Created: 23-05-2020 02:02 IST
Suspect killed in Texas Navy base shooting identified as Syrian-born U.S. citizen
Representative Image Image Credit: Pixabay
  • Country:
  • United States

The suspect killed at the scene of Thursday's "terrorism-related" shooting at a U.S. naval air base in Texas has been identified as 20-year-old Adam Aalim Alsahli, a Syrian-born U.S. citizen, federal law enforcement officials said on Friday.

In the Thursday morning attack, the gunman opened fire at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, wounding one sailor, a member of the base security force, but the assailant was the only person killed, the FBI said. The suspect's name and age were confirmed to Reuters in an email from an FBI official and tweeted by the agency. No further official information about the suspect was immediately released.

A U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said Alsahli was a native of Syria who held U.S. citizenship. FBI agent Leah Greeves said on Thursday that the incident was being treated as "terrorism related," but official details about the circumstances of the attack remained scant.

The New York Times quoted a base spokeswoman as saying a man in a vehicle approached a gate to the installation and began firing at a guard, who was injured but managed to activate a "final denial barrier" that prevents entry. Base personnel returned fire, and the gunman was "neutralized," the spokeswoman told the Times. Greeves said on Thursday that authorities were searching for "a potential second related person of interest" who remained at large in the community. A law enforcement official said that as of Friday afternoon, authorities had no updated information to release about the possible second suspect.

The Justice Department said separately on Thursday that electronic media found at the scene was being analyzed as part of the investigation.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Give Feedback