(CNN)Four Marines were killed when a gunman attacked two military sites in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Thursday, the U.S. Navy said.The suspected shooter, 24-year-old Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, is also dead, the FBI said.
An eyewitness, who works at a hair salon next door to the recruitment center, said that the shooter reloaded once or twice and moved the mustang convertable that he was driving at least twice, to shoot from different angles. She thought the shooting lasted for at least 20-30 seconds. She said the shooter drove away from the scene and got on expressway 153 almost immediately.
All the deaths were reported at the second location. Military personnel at military installations are not allowed to carry weapons, except for military police and specific guards. This policy was reinforced by the Obama administration after the Fort Hood attack. Until that point, considerable leeway was allowed to military commanders of installations.
Until the orders came down after the Fort Hood attack, people at Yuma Proving Ground, where I worked, were at least able to keep weapons in their vehicles. After Fort Hood, impeccable sources at YPG told me that they were forced to change the post regulations by the highest authorities.
So the NOSC is a gun free zone. It is too bad that the national authorities were not willing to allow these Marines to be "Ready Now. Anytime. Anywhere." as the Naval Reserve Mission statement reads from the screen shot of their facebook page.
Instead, they had to wait on the arrival of a civilian police officer. It was too late for four of them.
Will "The View" claim that this was a conspiracy to promote the campaigns of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, both of whom have said that we should allow our military to protect themselves on American soil?
Update: The Washington Post is giving a preliminary timeline:
The attack began at 10:45 a.m. when Abdulazeez fired rounds into the windows and door of a local military recruiting office. He then fled in a silver-colored Ford Mustang and drove to a Navy Reserve center several miles away, where he again opened fire and all five fatalities occurred.The timing is reinforced by a statement from a witness at the Naval Operations Support Center (NOSC). From foxnews.com:
Police in Chattanooga said shortly after 1:15 p.m. that the shooting was over and that the gunman was dead.
Marilyn Hutcheson, who works at Binswanger Glass just across the street from the center on Amnicola Highway, said she heard a barrage of gunfire around 11 a.m.
"I couldn't even begin to tell you how many," she said. "It was rapid fire, like pow pow pow pow pow, so quickly. The next thing I knew, there were police cars coming from every direction."
That indicates that there was significant time for the Marines to defend themselves, if they had been allowed defensive weapons.
©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch
1 comment:
First, and foremost, prayers up for the fallen.
"Ready Now. Anytime. Anywhere."
This still holds true under Obama......it is what they are ready FOR that is in question. Ready to die, at the hands of jihadis, unarmed to the last drop of blood. Obama is dedicated to UNILATERAL DISAMRAMENT as a means of achieving "peace". SO what "PEACE" is he working toward? Submission, of course. Islamic domination of the entire planet, peace on earth, eh?
Folks like to pay this off, as if it just a conspiracy theory, but at some point they will have to admit the reality of the situation.
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