Born in Kuwait, Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez was a 24-year old electrical engineer. He moved to the United States with his family as an infant and became an American citizen. On July 16, 2015, Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez opened fire on a military recruiting station in Chattanooga, Tennessee before moving to a nearby U.S. Navy Reserve Center. This lone wolf incident claimed the lives of four U.S. Marines and injured three others. In an investigation following the incident, analysts suggest that Abdulazeez was radicalized online. Some of Abdulazeez’s acquaintances reported that they saw clear indications that Abdulazeez was becoming more radicalized, but failed to alert authorities. Abdulazeez’s radicalization process took place more than a year before the incident occurred. Researcher said that he discussed committing himself to jihad with others, but had not taken any actions toward it. Reports also revealed that Abdulazeez had very close ties to his Middle East roots, which continued throughout the years. Abdulazeez traveled to the Middle East (Jordan) in July 2014, to visit family and friends. Researchers conclude that his trip to Jordan did not radicalize Abdulazeez and disclosed that he was radicalized prior to his trip (Bradbury, 2016). People who knew …show more content…
There was a lot of speculation surrounding this investigation and many law enforcement personnel believed that ISIS inspired the attack. After the preliminary investigation, researchers discovered that ISIS associates may have radicalized Farook and grievances in the workplace could have been contributing factors in the attack. During the attack, investigators believe Malik expressed allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a Facebook post (Ahmed, 2015). Both Farook and Malik kept a low profile, which made it incredibly difficult to track their movements or