FBI says it presumes Florida base shooting was act of terrorism

The FBI is working under the presumption that a fatal shooting at a Florida naval base carried out by an aviation student from Saudi Arabia was an act of terrorism, the agency says Sunday.

All international students at the Pensacola base have been accounted for, there have been no arrests, and the community is under no immediate threat, special agent Rachel L. Rojas says at a news conference. A Saudi commanding officer has ordered all students from the country to remain at one location at the base, officials also said at the news conference.

Additionally, authorities believe the gunman made social media posts in which he talked about US support for Israel and charged that Americans are anti-Muslim, a US official tells The Associated Press on Sunday. Investigators also believe the gunman visited New York City, including Rockefeller Center, days before the shooting and are working to determine the purpose of the trip, say the official, who is not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The FBI and others had said they were trying to determine whether the gunman, 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, 21, of the Royal Saudi Air Force, acted alone. Alshamrani was a flight student at Pensacola, where members of foreign militaries are routinely trained by the US.

— AP