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 In seeking to understand what motivated last Thursday's fatal
shooting in Tennessee, relatives of the 24-year-old engineer have
pointed to what they say was a tragic combination of factors,
according to the source.
Substance abuse combined with long-standing psychological issues
appears to have stirred up intense religious guilt, driving
Abdulazeez to find forgiveness in a violent outburst, they believe.
Two days before the Chattanooga attack, Abdulazeez told his family
he was going to work, the source said, but they learned from his
friends that he instead took a marijuana and alcohol-fueled "joy
ride" in a rented car.
The trigger for his "bender" was the worsening of depression that
had dogged him for years, the family believes. He was also "very
ashamed" about the drunken driving arrest in April and an impending
court appearance, the family source said, and may have had
difficulty reconciling his drinking and marijuana use with his
Muslim faith.
The shooting follows a series of "lone wolf" attacks, or thwarted
attacks, in the United States and other countries by Muslims
claiming to be inspired by Islamic State, known as ISIL, or other
militant groups.
 "We don't yet know all of the details behind the attack in
Chattanooga, but we do know that al Qaeda and ISIL have encouraged
attacks on American soil, including against our service members,"
U.S. President Barack Obama said at a Veterans of Foreign Wars
convention in Pittsburgh. "And this threat of lone wolves and small
cells is hard to detect and prevent."
Obama ordered all U.S. flags to be flown at half-mast at the White
House and other public buildings in honor of the four Marines and a
Navy petty officer killed in Chattanooga.
"SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE"
Investigators have evidence that Abdulazeez searched for general
jihadist propaganda that may have inspired the rampage, a source
close to the investigation said on Monday, although no direct link
has so far been found between the suspect and any militant group
such as Islamic State or al Qaeda.
His family believes Abdulazeez was looking for spiritual guidance on
how he might be forgiven for sins, the family source said, and that
quest may have contributed to his decision to attack.
But investigators think Abdulazeez's online activities included
reading the writings of Anwar al Awlaki, a Yemeni-American militant
preacher affiliated with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,
according to a government source. Al Awlaki was killed by a U.S.
drone strike in Yemen in 2011.
The family did not know of any direct connection he may have had
with jihadist groups or leaders, the source said.
"UNDER LOCK AND KEY"
The family knew Abdulazeez had serious emotional problems, and for
that reason sent him on a trip to Jordan between April and November
2014, escorted by his mother, the family representative said. A
Kuwaiti-born naturalized U.S. citizen of Palestinian extraction,
Abdulazeez stayed there largely “under lock and key,” supervised by
an unnamed grandfather and uncle, the source said.
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On Friday, the day after the shooting, Jordanian security services
detained Abdulazeez's uncle, Assad Ibrahim Abdulazeez Haj Ali, and
took his mobile telephones and laptop, his lawyer told Reuters on
Tuesday.
The lawyer, Abdul Qader al-Khatib, said by telephone from Jordan
that authorities have prevented from seeing his client, who was been
interrogated since then.
"The man has no political interests nor does he hold any ideology,"
said the lawyer said, describing the detention as unjust and calling
for his client's release.
Abdulazeez visited no other countries in the region during his trip
last year. His flight back to the United States made a scheduled
stop in Qatar, but Abdulazeez never left the airport, Qatari
officials and the family representative said on Tuesday.
Abdulazeez had made other trips to the Middle East earlier for
family purposes, the representative said.
The suspect was killed in a gunfight with police after he sprayed
gunfire at a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, then drove
to a nearby Naval Reserve Center where he shot and killed four
Marines. Three people were wounded, including a sailor who died on
Saturday.
Thousands of mourners gathered in Marietta, Georgia, on Tuesday
night at a memorial service for Marine Lance Corporal Squire K.
“Skip” Wells, one of the five slain servicemen.
Wells, 21, a reservist and youngest victim of the attack, was the
first to be honored individually at a memorial service.
(Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Roberta Rampton in
Washington, Julia Edwards in Pittsburgh, Frank McGurty in New York
and Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Beirut; Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing
by James Dalgleish and Lisa Shumaker)
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