Haley Orders Armed Protection for National Guard Facilities

Gov. Nikki Haley has signed an executive order to put armed members of the South Carolina National Guard on guard at the branch’s recruiting centers.

Florida National Guard recruiters returned Monday to “storefront” locations for the first time since being pulled out in the wake of a shooting rampage that left four Marines and a sailor dead last month in Tennessee.

The announcement came after lone gunman Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, drove to a military recruiting office and to a Navy-Marine operations center outside Chattanooga, opening fire at both places.

Police shot and killed Abdulazeez.

Aside from the two store-front recruitment centers in Hillsborough County – at 757 W. Brandon Blvd., Brandon and 10660 N. 56th St., Temple Terrace – centers in Jacksonville, Miami, Orange Park and Orlando are also being reopened.

“I will continue to do everything in my power to protect our military members here in Florida”, said Scott. “I’ll proceed to work instantly with General Livingston and Chief Keel to ensure we’re doing the whole lot in our energy to confront the threats dealing with South Carolina”. The safety of our men and women in uniform is paramount, and I fully expect that this rolling review, starting this week, will result in the arming of some of our guardsmen.