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?"

Abudulazeez was a leader on the high school wrestling team, graduated to mixed-martial arts, and earned an electrical engineering degree from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 2012. He was described by acquaintances as an observant Muslim, though he often wore jeans and a T-shirt, was clean-shaven until recently, and was arrested for a DUI in April.

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Three days before the shooting, Abdulazeez wrote on his blog that "life is short and bitter," The New York Times reports, citing the SITE Intelligence Group. Muslims should not let "the opportunity to submit to Allah... pass you by," he added. You can learn more about Thursday's shooting in the Reuters video below. Peter Weber

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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.