4 US Marines killed by lone gunman/potential domestic terrorist

[Webfoot Hero]

A lone gunman, 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, fired at 2 different military centers in Chattanooga, TN, killing 4 Marines and injuring 3 others, including a police officer. The gunman was later killed after a car chase and shootout with officers. The FBI is investigating whether this was an act of domestic or international terrorism. The shooting comes as Ramdan is ending so I think that and the fact the shooter was originally from Kuwait signals this was probably a lone wolf terrorist attack.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/natio...oting-in-chattanooga-tenn-20150716-story.html

 

[terry78]

Here we go again.

 

[Pink Ranger]

This is almost like a copycat of the lone wolf terrorists in Canada.

 

[Kryptonian Warrior]

I live about 5 miles from where the gunman was killed. Yeah, our little city is on edge as you can imagine. Especially if he winds up having ties to ISIS or some other terrorist group. I just saw on the news that the shooter's father was being looked at by the FBI, but he was cleared. This was a few years ago. Anyways, we are living in a time where it's getting to the point where citizens are having to look over our shoulders, because you just never know who might be a terrorist/extremist. It's sad and I have this feeling that it's only going to get worse. I genuinely fear for the future of my daughter's generation. The only thing I can do is just be the best parent I know how to be. That said, hug the ones closest to you and tell them that you love them because we are most definitely NOT guaranteed tomorrow.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

You have a bunch of disaffected and maligned people/groups right now that are looking for a place to belong and ISIS is becoming an attractive option to them because they have a certain amount of appeal/power that those people are craving. I'm not sure what can actually be done to curb lone wolf attacks except for people to be wary of those around them and report them to the proper authorities if they feel some type of violent action is imminent.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I live about 5 miles from where the gunman was killed. Yeah, our little city is on edge as you can imagine. Especially if he winds up having ties to ISIS or some other terrorist group. I just saw on the news that the shooter's father was being looked at by the FBI, but he was cleared. This was a few years ago. Anyways, we are living in a time where it's getting to the point where citizens are having to look over our shoulders, because you just never know who might be a terrorist/extremist. It's sad and I have this feeling that it's only going to get worse. I genuinely fear for the future of my daughter's generation. The only thing I can do is just be the best parent I know how to be. That said, hug the ones closest to you and tell them that you love them because we are most definitely NOT guaranteed tomorrow.

This is a terrible terrorist act, no doubt...

But I feel that your emotions are overriding rational thought. Violent crime is generally down in the country across the board. And while these lone wolf attacks have happened and continue to happen I think there are far more likely causes of death in the country than being killed by a terrorist now, and most likely in the future. Maybe you feel that there is nowhere you can walk right now that doesn't have a potential terrorist lurking or mass shooter but... I am sorry that sounds unrealistic. True, these acts of violence do literally come out of nowhere to end lives and make all of us uneasy but, really, the truth is traffic accidents that end in fatalities are more likely to touch the vast, vast majority of people than a terrorist shooting or bombing. Forgive me, but I read posts like this often here related to either general crime or things like terrorism and... I don't know... Sometimes it feels like certain types of people EMBRACE a fear ridden outlook for reasons I cannot fathom, and I'm not one of those "Live Life Without Fear" types either. Fear is natural, it can be prudent and practical. But I don't find that's the sort of thing I am talking about. No, this seems more an embracing of paranoia that thanks to a 24 hour news cycle and instant access to news and the endless analysis of news feeds into an unhealthy fear. Free societies, if they are to remain free have to come to grips with the random terrorist act and neither fetishize fear or security to absurd lengths.

 

[Leafar the Lost]

The shooter wasn't on any FBI terror list. He was Muslim and had traveled to another country recently. In the future, the USA is going to have to track people like the shooter just because of their name, religion and background. I don't care if its considered profiling. Profile everyone. One of these days a terrorist, with no criminal background, will bring a nuclear or biological bomb into the USA and kill millions of Americans.

 

[NYR94]

The shooter wasn't on any FBI terror list. He was Muslim and had traveled to another country recently. In the future, the USA is going to have to track people like the shooter just because of their name, religion and background. I don't care if its considered profiling. Profile everyone. One of these days a terrorist, with no criminal background, will bring a nuclear or biological bomb into the USA and kill millions of Americans.

Agreed. Profiling saves lives.

 

[moviedoors]

Anyways, we are living in a time where it's getting to the point where citizens are having to look over our shoulders

Not really. Your odds of being a victim of a mass shooting are about equal to the odds that you're gonna win the lottery.

 

[moviedoors]

The shooter wasn't on any FBI terror list. He was Muslim and had traveled to another country recently.

Well that only describes a few million people.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

It's harsh to look at stories of deaths, stories of deaths by kills are harder to sit through, because human ends the life of another. I can only look at this event with remorse.

Question: What caused the terrorist to perform the task he did? What drove him to make the choice?
Answer: Greed, the prime cause of war.

Some unlawful wars were declared by a small number of Republicans running in the oval office, they chose to start wars in countries under the word of liberation, but the idea was basically sending troops as cannon fodder to kill plenty, a large number of military casualties unfairly sent to die, and cause a bigger number of unfair death of civilians. What are these wars really for? Resources to be mined, financial gain.

These terrorists attacking soldiers like the dead marine officers (and some of the soldiers probably had no involvement in the assaults that angered plenty of people like that guy) are angry, not moving under properly guided jihad (to clear a misconception; jihad is a fight to fend off assailants, it's not what media call terrorist attacks, and it's not what ISIS -or folks like this guy flying solo- do).

The angry man's attack was likely misguided and unfair, but it did not come out of nowhere, it was vengeance, and vengeance will lead to more vengeance, and more saddening casualties for both sides.

 

[Schlosser85]

Not to be excusing Abdulazeez's actions at all, but unfortunately there is some truth in what Aziz says. These attacks don't happen in a vacuum, and saying terrorists "hate our freedom" is a gross oversimplification.

 

[warhorse78]

Some of it may be vengence, but I can't help but feel most mass murders on random people seem to me, that the killer just wanted attention for a brief moment.

 

[Leafar the Lost]

Well that only describes a few million people.

Well, then we need to raise taxes and build a security system to track anyone who meets those standards. So yes, people who are Muslim need to be tracked and profiled.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

^^
and they should wear a sign on their cloth maybe..that remind me of something.

PS : this is irony.

 

[Schlosser85]

Well, then we need to raise taxes and build a security system to track anyone who meets those standards. So yes, people who are Muslim need to be tracked and profiled.

Wouldn't have stopped Timothy McVeigh. Or Robert Eric Rudolph.

 

[John G. Lodge]

^^
and they should wear a sign on their cloth maybe..that remind me of something.

PS : this is irony.

Nice slippery slope fallacy.

 

[Schlosser85]

I'm not sure treating every Muslim in America like an enemy is productive.

 

[DeadPresident]

You have a bunch of disaffected and maligned people/groups right now that are looking for a place to belong and ISIS is becoming an attractive option to them because they have a certain amount of appeal/power that those people are craving. I'm not sure what can actually be done to curb lone wolf attacks except for people to be wary of those around them and report them to the proper authorities if they feel some type of violent action is imminent.

To a degree and in an indirect way I think you've answered your question with your first sentence. There's a casual pathway to all these events, but people don't seem to like looking further back than they have to.

Person A->Has a grievance->Grievance isn't dealt with properly->Frustration builds, violence becomes an acceptable option->Radicalized via some ideology, these days Islam->Finds weapons->Kills people.

Everyone seems concerned with the firearms (Gun control), the ideology (Monitor all Muslims) or protecting yourself (Be on the lookout for suspicious/threatening activity). What few people seem to be thinking of is how to address whatever grievance someone experiences that they can't solve and that in fringe cases leads them to murder. You can bet your bottom dollar a lot of people are feeling the same way these lone gunmen feel, but not everyone is heading into theaters or military institutions to kill other people.

Unfortunately the blanket reaction to how to get people to process whatever emotions or events make them feel disenfranchised healthily is usually ignorance (Lol why should we do that?). Until people give a **** that other human beings feel like they have no other option but to kill several people, we'll keep having these attacks and people should just get used to it.

 

[warhorse78]

I'm not sure treating every Muslim in America like an enemy is productive.

It's not. It's about as smart as thinking all Italians are part of the mafia, or all Germans have ties to Nazis, or that all Latinos can speak Spanish. I thought we got away from this thinking back in WW2 with the ending of the Japanese American camps.

 

[Schlosser85]

It's not. It's about as smart as thinking all Italians are part of the mafia, or all Germans have ties to Nazis, or that all Latinos can speak Spanish. I thought we got away from this thinking back in WW2 with the ending of the Japanese American camps.

Unfortunately I have friends on Facebook, including some otherwise compassionate people, who start spewing the Islamophobia when anything like this happens.

 

[cronosred]

Oh how different this thread would have been if the shooter was white and the victims would have been Muslim.

 

[Schlosser85]

"We need to start tracking and profiling white people! Profiling saves lives!"

 

[cronosred]

"We need to start tracking and profiling white people! Profiling saves lives!"

Southerners this and southerners that, racism in America, anyone with a confederate flag.

 

[Schlosser85]

By the way, the death count is now 5. One of the injured Marines has died.