Pensacola naval base shooting: Six Saudis arrested over Florida shooting that killed three
A TOTAL of six Saudi nationals have been arrested over Florida’s Pensacola naval base shooting, with one branding the US “a nation of evil” before he went on the killer rampage.
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Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani opened fire inside a classroom at the base and gunned down 14 people, killing three and injuring 11 in the horror attack from yesterday. Initial reports claim he turned the gun on himself, but authorities have confirmed since then that he was shot dead at the scene. Meanwhile, a further six Saudis have been arrested for the shooting while officers investigate a terror link.
The New York Times reports three of the six filmed the shooting on their mobile phone devices, according to a source.
Officials are yet to confirm whether any of those arrested are students at the base.
US President Donald Trump was quick to tweet about the shooting.
He later added that Saudi Arabia's King Salman expressed “sincere condolences” to the people of the US.
He added King Salman informed him that the Saudi people love the US and “are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter”.
Saudi Arabia officials said they are willing to cooperate with the investigation.
Florida Senator Rick Scott issued a scathing statement calling the shooting - the second on a US naval base this week - an act of terrorism "whether this individual was motivated by radical Islam or was simply mentally unstable".
He added it is "clear that we need to take steps to ensure that any and all foreign nationals are scrutinised and vetted extensively before being embedded with our American men and women in uniform".
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However, a national security expert from the Heritage Foundation warned against making an immediate link to terrorism.
Charles Stimson said it should not be assumed that "because he was a Saudi national in their air force and he murdered our people, that he is a terrorist".
On Wednesday, a sailor whose submarine was docked at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, opened fire on three civilian employees at the US base, killing two before taking his own life.
Rear Admiral Robert B. Chadwick, Commander, US Navy Region Hawaii, said: "I can confirm there were three shooting victims.
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Just received a full briefing on the tragic shooting at NAS Pensacola in Florida, and spoke to @GovRonDeSantis. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult time. We are continuing to monitor the situation as the investigation is ongoing.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2019
"We have confirmed that two are deceased, one is in stable condition in a local hospital.
"I can also report that the shooter, who has tentatively been identified as an active duty sailor assigned to USS Columbia, is also deceased by an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound."
The shooting happened just days before thousands were scheduled to gather at the military base to mark the 78th anniversary of the Japanese bombing that launched the US into the Second World War.
Rear Admiral Chadwick said he did not know the motive behind Wednesday's shooting at the naval shipyard within the base.
"We have no indication yet whether they were targeted or if it was a random shooting," he said.
The third victim was taken to hospital.
Hawaii had the lowest gun death rate among the US states in 2017, according to the Giffords Law Centre to Prevent Gun Violence.