Last Friday, a naval base in Pensacola, Florida was ravaged by an active shooter, leaving four dead. The 21-year-old shooter, Second Lieutenant Mohammed Alshamrani of the Royal Saudi Air Force, was receiving training in the United States. This is a common practice–currently, there are more than 5,000 international students from 153 countries receiving military training from the United States. Their three years in the United States include pilot training, basic aviation, and English lessons. According to the Pentagon, all international students are vetted before they are allowed into the United States.
It was mid-morning on December 6 when the shooter opened fire on a classroom filled with other students. Three besides Alshamrani died, and 12 more were injured. The shooter was using a handgun, though no students are allowed to have weapons at the base. The shooting occurred two days after a sailor at Pearl Harbor opened fire on civilian workers, killing two before committing suicide. There is no evidence that the two are connected.
Alshamrani had posted anti-U.S. quotes on Twitter before the shooting and had hosted a dinner at which he and other students watched videos of mass shootings. During the attack itself, one of the students who had been at the dinner took a video outside of the building while two other international students waited outside in a car. As of now, authorities are focused on determining whether the shooter acted by himself or if he was part of a larger network. The rigidity of the vetting process has also been under fire.