The suspect who shot and killed three people before he was killed at a U.S. Navy base in Pensacola, Florida, reportedly left behind a manifesto that said the United States was a “Nation of Evil,” reported the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The suspect, identified as Mohamed Saeed Alshamrani by police, had allegedly written on Twitter: “I’m against evil, and America as a whole has turned into a nation of evil,” reported AFP, citing the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadist media.
“I’m not against you for just being American, I don’t hate you because your freedoms, I hate you because every day you supporting, funding and committing crimes not only against Muslims but also humanity,” he allegedly wrote.
AFP reported that the account has since been suspended and authorities are still investigating the authenticity of the account and examining social media posts to determine if he acted alone or was connected to any broader group.
The shooting happened on Friday morning in a classroom building at Naval Air Station Pensacola and left three people dead and eight people wounded, including two deputies who responded to the scene. It ended when a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed the suspect.
Alshamrani, a Saudi national, was in the United States for flight training, law enforcement sources told ABC and other news outlets. The Associated Press reported that he was an aviation student.
He hosted a dinner party earlier in the week where he and three others watched videos of mass shootings, a U.S. official told The Associated Press on Saturday.
One of the three students who attended the dinner party videotaped outside the building while the shooting was taking place at Naval Air Station Pensacola on Friday, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity after being briefed by federal authorities. Two other Saudi students watched from a car, the official said.
The official said 10 Saudi students were being held on the base Saturday while several others were unaccounted for.
President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences to the families of the victims and noted that he had received a phone call from Saudi King Salman.
He said the king told him that “this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people.”
“King Salman of Saudi Arabia just called to express his sincere condolences and give his sympathies to the families and friends of the warriors who were killed and wounded in the attack that took place in Pensacola, Florida,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Friday.
“The King said that the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter and that this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people,” he added.
King Salman of Saudi Arabia just called to express his sincere condolences and give his sympathies to the families and friends of the warriors who were killed and wounded in the attack that took place in Pensacola, Florida….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2019
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis condemned the attack, saying at a press conference, “the government of Saudi Arabia needs to make things better for these victims and I think that they’re going owe a debt here given that this is one of their individuals.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) whose congressional district includes the Pensacola naval base, told a local TV station Friday afternoon: “We can safely call this an act of terrorism, not an act of workplace violence.”
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.
The Associated Press and Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
