Chattanooga shooter Mohammod Abdulazeez in high school: 'My name causes national security alerts'

Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez was funny, personable, and, according to authorities, killed four Marines on Thursday

(Image credit: Twitter/@ajplus)

last updated 17 July 2015

On Thursday, the FBI says, Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez attacked two military centers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, killing four Marines and wounding three other people before being killed himself. His motive is unclear. Abudulazeez, 24, was a Kuwaiti-born Jordanian who grew up in the idyllic Chattanooga suburb of Hixson, and had become a naturalized U.S. citizen, The New York Times reports.

By all accounts he was friendly, polite, and funny. His senior quote in the 2008 Red Bank High School yearbook seemed to be a joke: "My name causes national security alerts. What does yours do?"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox