FBI says attack on Texas naval base 'terrorism-related'
May 22, 2020
Federal agents say they are probing whether the shooting at the base Corpus Christi had a terrorist motive. The gunman was shot and killed by guards after wounding a sailor.
Image: Reuters/USA Today/Caller-Times/A. Rice
Advertisement
The FBI confirmed early on Friday that a shooting the day before at a US naval base in Texas was likely "terrorism-related," though officials did not elaborate further. The attack at the station in the city of Corpus Christi left a sailor wounded and the gunman dead.
At around 6.15 a.m local time (1100 UTC) on Thursday, the assailant, later identified as Adam Alsahli of Corpus Christi, attempted to gain access to the base by opening fire on the sailor who was guarding the security gate.
However, though injured, she was able to roll over and push the button that deployed the gate's security barrier, denying him access.
Gunman 'neutralized'
Alsahli was then shot and killed by other security guards at the base. The injured sailor has since been released from the hospital.
"We have determined that the incident this morning at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is terrorism-related,'' said FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Leah Greeves. "We are working diligently with our state, local and federal partners on this investigation, which is fluid and evolving.''
Mass shootings have become common tragedies in the US, where guns kill roughly 30,000 per year. From movie theaters to schools, mass shootings can occur at any place where large numbers of people are gathered.
Image: Getty Images/S. Platt
Ned Peppers Bar, Dayton
In the early hours of August 4, 2019, a man carrying a rifle opened fire at people outside a bar in Ohio, leaving nine people dead before police killed him. The man was wearing body armor and had additional magazines for the .223-caliber rifle. Police responded to the shooting within one minute; had they not, Mayor Nan Whaley said, "hundreds of people in the Oregon District could be dead today."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Minchillo
Walmart, El Paso
Several hours earlier, Patrick Wood Crusius was arrested on suspicion of killing 20 people and injuring 26. The suspect allegedly posted an online screed shortly before the shooting that echoed US President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant statements. He appeared to target people he believed to be immigrants from Mexico. Prosecutors said they'd treat the shooting as domestic terrorism.
Image: Reuters/C. Sanchez
Municipal Center, Virginia Beach
Mourners gathered for a vigil in response to a shooting at a municipal building in Virginia Beach on June 1, 2019. A longtime city employee opened fire, apparently indiscriminately, outside and inside the building before engaging in a battle with police, who ultimately shot and killed him, authorities said. Including the gunman, the death toll was 13.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/P. Semansky
Borderline Bar & Grill, Thousand Oaks
In November 2018, a 28-year-old former Marine attacked a country dance bar outside Los Angeles, killing 12 people and wounding 10 others. The bar was holding a "College Night" and was packed with a young crowd. The gunman was found dead inside the bar, apparently he killed himself.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Terrill
Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh
Eleven worshipers were killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018 while attending a baby naming ceremony. Six others were injured, including four police officers. The gunman is currently facing 29 criminal counts and could receive the death penalty. Police said he told officers that Jews were committing genocide and that
he wanted them all to die.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Wittpenn
Parkland, Florida
A 19-year-old former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida killed 17 of his fellow classmates in February 2018. For the first time in the US, survivors of a mass shooting came together to demand immediate action on gun control. The students founded March for our Lives, a nationwide student mass protest movement.
Image: picture-alliance/E.Rua
First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs
A grudge against his in-laws led a 26-year-old man to attack a church in the small, tight-knit community of Sutherland Springs, Texas in November 2017. The shooter killed 26 people between the ages of 18 months and 72 years. The mass shooting prompted President Donald Trump to focus the issue of gun violence on mental health and away from gun ownership.
In the deadliest mass shooting in US history, concertgoers were targeted at a country music festival in Las Vegas in October 2017. The shooter, a 64-year-old man with no criminal record, attacked from a room in the nearby Mandalay Hotel, killing 59 people and wounding more than 400. Authorities found 23 guns in the shooter's room.
Image: picture-alliance/M. J. Sanchez
Pulse nightclub, Orlando
An Afghan-American with a deep hatred for homosexuals attacked a gay nightclub in the city of Orlando, Florida in June 2016. Using an AR-15 rifle, the gunman stormed the darkened hall and killed 50 partygoers. The shooting was condemned worldwide and brought attention to hate crimes against the gay community.
Image: Reuters/J. Young
Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown
The December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut rocked the nation in its brutality. It was the first time children under the age of 8 had been directly targeted, with 20 of them dying. Mourning parents flew to Washington, DC to support President Barack Obama's background checks legislation. The law ultimately wasn't approved, despite an emotional national debate.
Image: AP
Century 16 Theater, Aurora
In July 2012, a gunman opened fire during a movie screening in Aurora, Colorado, causing chaos and confusion. In the aftermath, 14 people were killed and 50 were wounded. The assailant attacked moviegoers as they were watching the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg
A student went on a shooting spree in a dorm and a class hall at Virginia Tech University campus in April 2007, leaving 32 people dead. The shooting turned the nation's attention to the National Rifle Association (NRA), the most powerful lobby group, which has fought to stop gun control laws.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Maury
Columbine High School, Littleton
The 1999 assault in Littleton, Colorado, was the first school shooting to shock the nation. Two disgruntled students walked into their high school and opened fire with automatic weapons, killing 13 people. The attack would later become the subject of a documentary by filmmaker Michael Moore, Bowling for Columbine, that examined the causes of gun violence in the US.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Jefferson County Sheriff's Department
However, in that case, the attacker was a Saudi national on the base as a type of exchange student and had been in touch with the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Unlike Pensacola, the Corpus Christi base does not have any foreign students or soldiers regularly on the premises.
Repeated threats
The Corpus Christi station has seen several such incidents in the past year. Also in December, the station had to impose a lockdown after a similar threat, and earlier last year saw a man try to ram his truck through the front gate.
Late on Thursday, FBI agents were seen removing items from a house in Corpus Christi, but they would not confirm if the search was related to the attack on the naval base.
