The family of the Chattanooga gunman who killed five U.S. service members in Chattanooga, Tenn. spoke out Saturday night, expressing horror at the massacre, and extending condolences to the victims' families.
"There are no words to express our shock, horror and grief. The person who committed this horrible crime is not the son we knew and loved," the family of Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez said in the statement, their first public remarks since the shooting on Thursday.
"For many years, our son suffered from depression. It grieves us beyond belief to know that his pain found its expression in this heinous act of violence," the statement read.
Authorities had not determined a motive for the attack that has now claimed the lives of f0ur Marines and a Naval officer, but a text message Abdulazeez sent to a friend before the rampage was being investigated. First reported by Reuters on Saturday, the message is said to have contained a Koranic verse with the line: "Whosoever shows enmity to a friend of Mine, then I have declared war against him."
Abdulazeez, 24, unleashed a hail of bullets at a military recruiting center in Chattanooga strip mall, then drove to a Naval Reserve Center several miles away, where he killed four Marines. He was shot dead in a gunfight with responding law enforcement.
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, wounded at the Naval Reserve Center, died of his injuries on Saturday.
The Chattanooga community has been gripped by grief for the victims and shock over how a seemingly normal kid became a cold-blooded killer. He was not on federal authorities radar prior to the shooting, and had no immediately apparent ties to terrorist groups. Abdulazeez was "very outgoing," fellow high school classmate Hussnain Javid said. "Everyone knew of him."
Memorials remembering the victims were being held over the weekend.