US set to lean on Saudi Arabia in Florida shooting probe
The FBI will rely on Riyadh as it looks into last week's deadly shooting at a naval base.
The Donald Trump administration will be leaning heavily on Saudi Arabia as it investigates the shooting at a naval installation in Pensacola, Florida, that left three sailors dead and injured eight people last week.
As the FBI looks for clues into possible links between Mohammed Alshamrani and terror groups, it will rely heavily on Saudi Arabia for information from other Saudi pilots, aviation students and other colleagues on how the deceased suspect was vetted.
Alshamrani — who purchased a handgun used in the shooting after obtaining a Florida hunting license — reportedly lodged complaints over instructors using derogatory epithets against him at the naval base. The city of Pensacola was also hit with cyberattacks that shut down networks, phones and email at some government buildings.
But the case raises questions over how authorities missed signs of radicalization in the Saudi aviation trainee, who showed fellow students videos of mass shootings before carrying out the attacks, experts say.
