Florida attack ... a call to stop training the Saudi military and assurances that the incident was "an individual act"

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said that investigators believe that a Saudi air force officer acted alone last Friday when he killed three people and wounded eight others at a naval base in Florida, southern the United States, while lawmakers called on Congress to stop training programs for Saudi military personnel in the country .

Rachel Rojas, the special investigator in charge of the FBI in Jacksonville, explained that their current assessments indicate that the shooting incident at the Pensacola base in Florida was an individual behavior, and Rojas - who heads the investigations - told a news conference on Sunday that the bomber obtained the weapon in a legal way, and that the authorities It operates as a terrorist act.

Fellow attacker
The same spokeswoman indicated that the investigators had not yet determined the motive behind the attack, and that a number of the Saudi attacker's colleagues who were close to the scene of the attack at the time of its implementation were cooperating with the investigators, adding that their exit from the base was prohibited by order of the Saudi army.

She added that the FBI deals with this issue as it deals with similar shooting cases on the assumption that it is a terrorist operation, but stressed that this is being done with the aim of allowing investigators to use special tools granted to them in terrorism cases.

The Florida attack investigation team includes 80 FBI special officers, 100 associate employees, dozens of Navy investigators, and a number of other federal agencies.

Attack grounds
The FBI identified the shooter as a second lieutenant, Mohammed Saeed Al-Shamrani, 21, and said he opened fire inside an al-Qaeda classroom early Friday morning using a nine-millimeter "Glock" pistol.

Al-Shamrani was at the Pensacola base as part of a training program with the US Navy that aims to strengthen relations with foreign allies. The authorities said that he began training in the United States in 2017, and he has been in the Pensacola region for 18 months.

On the other hand, two Republican lawmakers called on the Ministry of Defense (the Pentagon) to stop training foreign military personnel temporarily after the Saudi Air Force officer killed two trainees last week at the Florida base.

"Saudi Arabia is an ally of the United States, but there is something really bad," said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

Saudi students
Republican Representative Matt Gates called for stopping the reception of new Saudi students until the verification process by the United States is confirmed, adding on a TV program that "Defense Secretary Mark Esber's orders to review the training program with Saudi Arabia came as a result of President Trump's strong and strict leadership on this issue."

The Saudi Press Agency reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Trump on Sunday, pledging that the country's authorities will cooperate with the United States regarding the Florida attack, and provide all information that helps in the investigations.

The New York Times quoted a US official as saying that Al-Shamrani entered the United States to train in flight, and left for Saudi Arabia to return in February, when he did not join the training program until two days before the attack, and it was not yet clear what he was doing during the time between his return and between He joined the training.

American media reported that a Twitter account believed to belong to al-Shamrani posted a message hours before the attack criticizing the United States for its support of Israel, and "financing crimes against Muslims."