US shooter's travel, web activity probed for motive

Chattanooga

Investigators are searching for evidence that the man who killed four US Marines may have contacted jihadist extremists either online or during overseas travel but so far have found nothing, the FBI said Friday.

Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, opened fire on two military centers in Chattanooga on Thursday, gunning down the four Marines and wounding three people before dying in a shootout with police.

Authorities have said they are treating the case -- a grisly scene reminiscent of other shooting rampages at US military installations -- as an "act of terrorism."

But after a senior US lawmaker suggested the evidence pointed to an attack inspired by the Islamic State extremist group, the FBI warned against jumping to conclusions about a possible motive.

"At this time, we have no indication that he was inspired by or directed by anyone other than himself," FBI special agent Ed Reinhold said of Abdulazeez, a naturalized US citizen born in Kuwait.

The FBI has asked foreign intelligence agencies to help trace his movements and activities abroad, and analysts will be tracing his activity on social media. 

Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House Homeland Security Committee, said the attack was inspired by the Islamic State group, also known by its acronym ISIS.