Family spokesman: Depression may have led to Tenn. killings

The spokesman said, according to the AP, that previous year the Kuwait-born Jordanian spent several months in Jordan under a mutual agreement with his parents to try and quit alcohol and drugs, and disconnect with some friends who relatives believed were bad influence.

“The person who committed this awful crime was not the son we knew and loved”, it added.

Investigators are examining his overseas travel to see if Abdulazeez came into contact with extremists.

Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, the 24-year-old man who shot and killed four marines and one sailor at two military facilities in Tennessee last week, may have had a history of drug use and depression.

But what the Federal Bureau of Investigation still haven’t found is his motive for unloading his gun on two unguarded military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee – places where a sign banning guns hung in stark contrast on the doors riddled with bullet holes following the deadly shooting.

And so far, there is nothing connecting the attacker to ISIS or other worldwide terror groups, said Ed Reinhold, special agent in charge of the regional FBI office.

But CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes stressed that depression doesn’t necessarily make anyone more likely to kill. He saw the gunman in last week’s attack and warned people around him, family members said, but was unable to get away.

“It grieves us beyond belief to know that his pain found its expression in this heinous act of violence”, the statement said.

FILE – In this July 17, 2015 file photo, an FBI investigator investigates the scene of a shooting outside a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tenn. “Through high school and college he did a better job sometimes than others staying with it”, a family representative told the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Court documents from 2009 divorce proceedings involving Abdulazeez’s parents suggest he may have also been beaten by his father.

The family representative claimed Abdulazeez’s family tried unsuccessfully a number of times to get him help for his mental illness and away from his friends who encouraged drinking and smoking marijuana.

After returning from Jordan, Abdulazeez was arrested in April for driving under influence in the pre-dawn hours.

Republican presidential hopefuls Jeb Bush, Donald Trump and Scott Walker called for the lifting of a prohibition on military personnel carrying firearms at recruiting venues.

Her son, Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, 26, had died Saturday from wounds suffered in the shooting rampage.

Four Marines and one Sailor died in the shooting.