(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “stands in solidarity with the United States” after the attack on army personnel in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
“On behalf of the people and government of Israel, I extend our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and wish a speedy and full recovery to the wounded,” he said Friday in a statement.
A gunman on Thursday killed four Marines and injured three other people in Chattanooga. A fifth person, U.S. sailor Randall Smith, died over the weekend.
The FBI special agent in charge, Ed Reinhold, told the local media on Thursday that there was nothing yet tying suspected shooter Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, who died in a fire exchange during the attack, to a terrorist organization, but he emphasized it’s still very early in the investigation.
Media reports described Abdulazeez, who, according to the SITE Intelligence Group was born in Kuwait to a Palestinian father from Nablus, as having had a traditional American upbringing, including participation on school sports teams.
One of the casualties of the attack was a Chattanooga police officer identified as Dennis Pedigo. He suffered a gunshot wound to the foot and was recovering at a Chattanooga hospital, wbir.com reported.
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