Mohammad Abdulazeez and the 2015 Chattanooga Military-Site Attacks
Overview
Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez was the gunman responsible for a coordinated attack on two United States military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 16, 2015. During a shooting spree that lasted approximately thirty minutes, Abdulazeez fired at an Armed Forces recruiting office before driving to a nearby Navy Operational Support Center, where he murdered four United States Marines and fatally wounded a Navy sailor. A Marine recruiter and a Chattanooga police officer were also wounded.
The five service members killed in the attack were Gunnery Sergeant Thomas J. Sullivan, Staff Sergeant David A. Wyatt, Sergeant Carson A. Holmquist, Lance Corporal Squire K. “Skip” Wells and Navy Logistics Specialist Second Class Randall W. Smith. Abdulazeez was killed during a gunfight with responding law-enforcement officers at the second attack site.
Background of Mohammad Abdulazeez
Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez was born on September 5, 1990, in Kuwait. He later became a naturalized United States citizen and lived with his family in Hixson, Tennessee, near Chattanooga. He attended Red Bank High School and graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2012 with a degree in electrical engineering.
Abdulazeez held several jobs after college, including a brief position connected to the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Ohio. He was dismissed from that job after failing a drug test. Reports concerning his personal life described struggles with alcohol, drugs, depression and financial problems. He was arrested in Hamilton County, Tennessee, on April 20, 2015, on a charge of driving under the influence. That case was still pending when he committed the Chattanooga attacks less than three months later.
Investigators examined Abdulazeez’s international travel, internet activity, writings and communications after the shootings. He had spent several months in Jordan during 2014 and had passed through the airport in Doha, Qatar, while traveling. Authorities found that he had viewed extremist material online, but they did not establish that he had been directed by a foreign terrorist organization or that another person had helped him carry out the attack.
The First Shooting on Lee Highway
The violence began at approximately 10:45 a.m. on Thursday, July 16, 2015. Abdulazeez drove a rented silver Ford Mustang convertible to the Armed Forces Career Center at 6219 Lee Highway in Chattanooga. The recruiting office was located in a shopping center and served multiple branches of the United States military.
While remaining in or near the Mustang, Abdulazeez fired numerous rounds into the recruiting center. Witnesses reported hearing a rapid series of gunshots as bullets struck the office’s glass windows and exterior. Marine Sergeant DeMonte Cheeley, who worked as a recruiter, was shot in the leg. The people inside the office took cover as Abdulazeez continued firing.
No one was killed at the Lee Highway recruiting center. After firing into the building, Abdulazeez drove away. Police received reports of the shooting and began searching for the Mustang. Abdulazeez traveled approximately seven miles from the recruiting office to the Navy Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center on Amnicola Highway.
The Attack on the Navy Reserve Center
Abdulazeez arrived at the military reserve facility at 4051 Amnicola Highway shortly before 11:00 a.m. He drove through or around the entrance gate and entered the compound. The facility housed Navy personnel and members of Mike Battery, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment.
Once inside the compound, Abdulazeez continued shooting. He entered or fired into areas occupied by military personnel before moving toward a motor-pool section of the property. Service members attempted to warn one another, move away from the gunfire and help colleagues escape over a fence at the rear of the facility.
Some of the military personnel had privately owned firearms available and returned fire. Their actions helped cover the evacuation of others from the compound. Despite their resistance, Abdulazeez fatally shot four Marines and critically wounded Navy sailor Randall Smith. The attack was concentrated around the reserve center’s buildings and motor-pool area.
Chattanooga police officers arrived and entered the property while gunfire was still occurring. Sergeant Dennis Pedigo was struck in the ankle during the confrontation. Officers exchanged fire with Abdulazeez, who was killed at the reserve center. Authorities recovered several firearms associated with him, including a semiautomatic rifle, a shotgun and a handgun.
Victims
- Gunnery Sergeant Thomas J. Sullivan, 40 — Sullivan was shot and killed on July 16, 2015, at the Navy Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center on Amnicola Highway in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, he was an experienced United States Marine who had served multiple deployments, including combat tours in Iraq. He had received the Purple Heart for wounds suffered during his military service.
- Staff Sergeant David A. Wyatt, 37 — Wyatt was murdered on July 16, 2015, at the Amnicola Highway reserve facility in Chattanooga. Originally from Russellville, Arkansas, he joined the Marine Corps in 2004 and served on several overseas deployments, including deployments to Iraq. He was married and the father of two children.
- Sergeant Carson A. Holmquist, 25 — Holmquist was shot and killed on July 16, 2015, at the Navy and Marine reserve center on Amnicola Highway. He was from Grantsburg, Wisconsin, and had served in the Marine Corps since 2009. His military service included a deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was married and had a young son.
- Lance Corporal Squire K. “Skip” Wells, 21 — Wells was murdered at the Amnicola Highway reserve center on July 16, 2015. He was from Marietta, Georgia, and had joined the Marine Corps after attending Georgia Southern University. Wells was the youngest of the five service members who died as a result of the attack.
- Logistics Specialist Second Class Randall W. Smith, 26 — Smith was shot several times at the Navy Operational Support Center on July 16, 2015. He was transported to a Chattanooga hospital in critical condition and died from his wounds on July 18, 2015. Smith was from Paulding, Ohio, and was serving in the United States Navy Reserve. He was married and the father of three daughters.
People Wounded
Marine Sergeant DeMonte Cheeley was wounded in the leg during the initial shooting at the Armed Forces Career Center on Lee Highway. He received medical treatment and survived. Chattanooga Police Sergeant Dennis Pedigo was wounded in the ankle while responding to the reserve-center attack. He was hospitalized and later recovered.
Other military personnel inside the reserve facility escaped without being shot, in part because fellow service members warned them and provided cover as they climbed over a fence. Investigators later concluded that the actions of those who confronted or distracted Abdulazeez probably prevented additional deaths.
Weapons and Preparation
Investigators determined that Abdulazeez brought several weapons and a substantial amount of ammunition to the attacks. The recovered weapons included a semiautomatic rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and a 9-millimeter handgun. Approximately one hundred rounds were reportedly fired during the two attacks and the final confrontation with police.
The selection of two military locations, the weapons carried in the Mustang and Abdulazeez’s rapid movement from one facility to the other indicated that the shootings were planned rather than spontaneous. He specifically targeted places where American military personnel worked, beginning with a publicly accessible recruiting office and then moving to a reserve installation several miles away.
Investigation into the Motive
The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation with assistance from the Chattanooga Police Department, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and other federal, state and local agencies. Investigators searched Abdulazeez’s home, vehicles, computers, telephones and online accounts. They also interviewed relatives, friends, coworkers and acquaintances.
Authorities initially described the shootings as a possible act of domestic terrorism. Investigators later found that Abdulazeez had consumed propaganda produced by foreign terrorist organizations and had researched subjects connected to violent extremism and martyrdom. Shortly before the attack, he sent a friend a text message containing an Islamic religious verse that investigators considered potentially significant.
On December 16, 2015, FBI Director James Comey announced that investigators had concluded Abdulazeez was inspired and motivated by propaganda from foreign terrorist organizations. The FBI was unable to determine conclusively which particular organization had exerted the strongest influence. Investigators found no proof that Abdulazeez had received direct orders from a terrorist group, and no organization was shown to have planned or controlled the attack.
The FBI characterized Abdulazeez as a homegrown violent extremist who appeared to have radicalized largely through material he encountered on the internet. Investigators also considered his substance abuse, depression and personal difficulties, but the attack’s deliberate targeting of military personnel and his exposure to extremist propaganda led federal authorities to classify the killings as terrorism.
Death of the Gunman
Abdulazeez died on July 16, 2015, at the Navy Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway. He was 24 years old. Chattanooga police officers confronted him inside the compound after following the reports from the Lee Highway recruiting center. He exchanged gunfire with the responding officers and was fatally shot.
Because Abdulazeez was killed at the scene, he was never arrested or placed on trial. No accomplice was charged in connection with the murders. The available evidence indicated that he selected the targets, obtained the weapons and carried out the shootings alone.
Recognition of the Victims
The Chattanooga attack produced widespread mourning throughout the United States, particularly within the Marine Corps, Navy and communities where the victims had lived. Memorial services were held for each of the five service members, and tributes emphasized their military careers, families and efforts to protect others during the attack.
In December 2015, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that the service members killed or wounded in the Chattanooga shootings were eligible to receive the Purple Heart. The decision followed the federal conclusion that the attack had been inspired by foreign terrorist propaganda. The five murdered service members were posthumously honored for their sacrifice.
Security Changes and Legacy
The shootings raised concerns about security at military recruiting offices and reserve centers, many of which were located in ordinary commercial areas without heavily armed guards or extensive protective barriers. In the aftermath, military officials reviewed security procedures, increased protective measures at some facilities and considered how personnel at smaller installations should respond to armed attacks.
Memorials honoring Sullivan, Wyatt, Holmquist, Wells and Smith were later established in Chattanooga and in their home communities. The attack remains remembered as the 2015 Chattanooga shootings, a targeted terrorist assault in which five members of the United States armed forces were murdered while serving at a domestic military facility.
