>> this is al jazeera america, live from new york city. i'm david schuster. we're expecting a news conference in just a couple of moments from chattanooga tennessee, that's where investigators will be giving us an update into their probe into the shootings yesterday at two different facilities, four u.s. marines have been killed. the shooter is mohammed yousef abdulazeez.

the four months that abdulazeez may have spent in jordan, and afterwards the u.s. marine corps have now formally identified those killed yesterday. thomas sil sullivan, 40 years old from springfield massachusetts sulsullivan saw be combat in the iraq war. david wyatt 37 years old native of burke, north carolina. wyatt had spent some time in afghanistan and iraq. again 37 years old, wife and two children and based on his social media post wyatt liked to spend a lot of sometime with his system on the beach. skip wells 21 years old from

cobb georgia. wells had apparently started college at in georgia and told friends he felt a higher calling to join the service. squire was his full name but went by skip. skip wells in high school according to his friends was part of the marching band and loved the marshing band where he played the care net. and carson, served in afghanistan and expert in the marine corps where they were called automotive technicians. son holmquist 27 years old. -- carson holmquist 27 years old. each of their home towns preparing the grim preparations

for memorial services and burials of each of them. joining us from washington d.c. is lisa stark lisa you have been following trail that investigators are pursuing, involving mohammed yousef abdulazeez, what are the motives they have about him and the possible motive? >> we have heard from the homeland security side representative mike mccall of texas. he gave us some details we did not know previously. he said abdulazeez was carrying a fully loaded ak ak .47. all the electronic devices on their way to washington, d.c. where they will get a full forensic analysis, looking to see if there is any connection to any terrorist group or whether he was motivated by any terrorist group. and in fact, what mccall said today is that he believed the islamic state in syria was the

motivating force if you will, if not directly then at least online for this attack. here's when he had to say. >> so my judgment in my experience is that this was a i.s.i.s. inspired attack. and it has been open as a terrorism investigation by the fbi which is a very significant event in this case. >> reporter: now what mccall is saying is that he says he believes the islamic state is sending tens of thousands of tweets out every day and he said they are really engaging people on social media. he said they're very effective that way and he said the u.s. really has to do much more to counter that. in fact he has a bill that he hopes would do that he said he just brought out of committee.he also said that i.s.i.s, that the federal government has islamic state investigations underway in all 50 states looking into

people that they may be concerned are being radicalized. talked about the 4th of july. he said that in fact there was a suspected attack, it was prevented, but he said they can't prevent them all and he believes that yesterday's attack in chattanooga was an example of something that just couldn't be prevented. he said there's just too much out there too much chatter on the internet, some of it in dark spaces he said where we can't monitor it, and he said it's just impossible to get on top of. there is a group actually based here in the d.c. area called the site intelligence group and they sort of keep track of terrorist activities on the web and they posted a couple of blogs that abdulazeez apparently put out in the few days before this shooting david. and they say he said in those blogs one of the things he said is life is short and bitter and he said, they also -- he also wrote that muslims should not let the opportunity to submit to

allah pass by. of course we have no indication yet from the fbi that this attack was directly related to any group in the middle east or anyone else but mccall saying he believes it was inspired by the islamic state in syria and he feels that's what investigators will find. when asked what he believes he is basing that on, by the way he says he is basing it on his role as head of the committee on homeland security and this is the new face of terrorism in the united states. >> lisa we expect the news conference in chattanooga in less than five minutes we of course will bring that to everybody when it starts. lisa you made a point at the end while they expect there was influence from i.s.i.s. on social media they are stick

with the idea that there was nobody in chattanooga who had any influence or pripped abdulazeezprecipitatedabdulazeez to do this. >> people taken from the home in handcuffs, this is pretty standard, we have not heard anything indicating in fact that there was some radical unit in chattanooga that he was associated with. as you know david from people who knew abdulazeez they were shocked. they described him as a nice young man friendly young man they said they didn't notice any changes in his behavior. apparently there were no apparent red flags at least to those who knew him. >> lisa stark joining us from, thank you very much. david katz, what do you make of

that latest reporting the theory that he was influenced, abdulazeez was influenced by i.s.i.s. over social media from the middle east but doesn't seem as if there was anybody directly involved in helping him in chattanooga, what do you make of that? >> well, you don't need to have someone in physical proximity to you at the internet, you can be by anyone virtually anywhere. i.s.i.s. is the most likely probability but there are no shortage of radical groups that feel that people are able to contact them through social media and just did a very, very poor job of plugging that communication pathway. >> how easy or difficult is it for somebody to obtain an ak .47 these days? >> oh you are a legal citizen or resident and have no criminal record you can get a firearm in

the united states. the question is the law abiding individuals in this country millions have firearms. that is not the situation. but making radicals anything they can carry out an attack with. >> sit your sense that the greatest fear that the fbi has these days is not the organized terrorist attacks but al qaeda 911 the sort of inspirational attacks that cause lone wolves to go ahead and get an assault weapon and pick the target and open fire? >> those type of individuals (inaudible) so many people that are not affiliated, the easiest thing with a largeer they have to be funded they have to communicate they have to have logistics that are part and

parcel of an organized operation. a lone wolf just needs motivation and some very equally accessible materials and they can produce some local damage and although you talk about an attack that's in comparison to 911 very small you can four families who have been harmed forever. so these can do tremendous damage hard to detechnicality, and there's really no easy answer on how to stop them. >> david katz a security analyst and former fishburne firearms form former firearms inspector. federal prosecutor who will be leading the essentially federal and if there's anybody who is going to be charged in association with abdulazeez, the federal prosecutors will be bringing that particular case. we will also hear from the chattanooga police chief fred

fletcher. special agent ed reinhold. when did abdulazeez get inspired to do this, the data files and the social media record, what do they know about the trip abdulazeez made to jordan for seven months last year and a representative from the bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms who should be able to provide more information about the ak .47, how many rounds abdulazeez fired off where did he get the weapons. the news conference is starting now, let's listen. >> good afternoon, thank you for coming. joined here today by the sheriffs mayors, different --

district attorney locally and other homeland security officials. first of all my heart felt condolence he to the four marines who were killed yesterday. i'm joined on the stage by captain jason balzer of the united states marine corps. next to him chief fred fletcher, chief of police of chattanooga police department. next to him steve jaradeau, special agent in charge of the alcohol tobacco and firearms explosive, and head of the fbi for the eastern district of tennessee. i'm ibm bill killian the different for the eastern district of tennessee. we wanted to reveal details and

be as transparent as we can be and what the law allows us to be the active shooter situation is being streeted as a terrorism investigation. it is being led by the fbi's joint terrorism task force and we will continue to investigate it as an act of terrorism until the proof shows us otherwise. we will let the facts and the evidence lead us where it may. the department of justice fbi local state and federal partners are putting every resource necessary towards had effort. we will not leave any stone unturned for the victims of this heinous and cowardly act. i can tell that you that to

protect the safety of the citizens of this country chattanooga police chief is here and he will detail some un unquestionable acts of bravery and heroism exhibited by the chattanooga police department in the active shooter situation they found themselves. steve jerardeau will detail the assets and resources of atf towards the investigation and ed arenaholdreinhold will detail what he can of the personnel of the fbi and

what they have dedicated to this. at that point, we will answer any questions you have if we can answer them and i want to thank you in advance for understanding that we can't answer all questions. and are prohibited from actually answering some. first off i want to recognize captain jason ballzer with united states marine corps. >> sir. thank you. good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. the marine corps thanks the law enforcement and emergency personnel here in chattanooga for their response yesterday and to the chattanooga officials and community for their heart felt support. we will continue to assist the federal and chattanooga authorities in their investigation. most importantly: our thoughts support are we the families of the wounded marines.

we are committed to being part of the communities from which our middle eastern marines and accessible to the makes. thank you. >> my heart and the hearts of the chattanooga police department go out to the u.s. marine corps and the families of their victims. for myself and the chattanooga police department, we offer our condolences and we say semper phi. i have the distinct order to speak to you about this so bear with me. chattanooga police officers stood ready to place themselves between harm and the community just like they do every day. when the call came out for a gunman officers began searching for this cowardly and brutal person.

yesterday was a breathtaking example of that everyday courage. that everyday bravery that can all too often be taken for granted. immediately after those reports of gun fire, officers began searching, and located the gunman driving down the highway. chattanooga police officers immediately began following and chasing that vehicle between the first and second locations. eventually, officers encountered the suspect at the second location. that suspect soon made his intent his cowardly homocidal intent clear. officers of the chattanooga police department did not hesitate. they engaged that person, that gunman immediately aggressively. with the sole intent that he harmed as few community members as possible. that assailant that gunman struck one chattanooga police officer with gun fire.

as he went down, his teammates who were responding equally as aggressively, came to his aid. they put their hands on him dragged him from under the gun fire and bravely returned fire and to ensure that he was safe and the gunman ramadi gunman remained engaged. officers returned fire and engaged the suspect even as officers from around the city began responding. members of my executive staff rushed out of police headquarters to the scene while the incident was unfolding. officers is iting at home threw on their uniforms, rushed out the door, came to the city to aid their community to aid their fellow officers. as i've had a chance to talk to the officers that -- as we debriefed them, they recount their training, their mentorship but most importantly their commitment to serve this community.

they are all thankful for each other and the privilege to serve this community. officers stand willing to risk their own lives for others. they did the day before yesterday, they did yesterday with breathtaking clarity and they do today and tomorrow. there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that chattanooga police officers prevented loss of life yesterday. chattanooga police officers proved themselves in every sense of the word heroes. they are my heroes. i have never been prouder to be a police officer than i was yesterday and today. i am extremely proud to be a chattanooga police officer. today, as yesterday chattanooga police officers stand ready day and night to face down evil. to face down violence. and to do it on behalf of their bloofdbeloved chattanooga.

on behalf of them we thank you for the privilege to serve. thank you. >> good afternoon. on behalf of the men and women of atf i'd like to express my sincere condolences to the united states marine corps. as it regarding atf as it pertains to what we've been doing along with our federal partners in cpd atf has conducted urgent firearms traces and the results have been relaid to the investigative team. intelligence resources to augment the investigation. several agents from our birmingham office, from our knoxville office, from our nashville office have responded as well as our intelligence research specialists are here and present and working in a collaborative effort, with all of our partners here.

so we're committed to work as a team and to be here and like united states attorney killian said we will bear no expense in making sure we bring this case to closure for the american people. thank you. >> good afternoon. welcome back. first on behalf of the fbi the director of the fbi and all the men and women who serve in the fbi, and our law enforcement partners i too wand to extend our deepest sympathies to not only the united states marine corps but the families who lost their loved ones in yesterday's horrific shootings. it is difficult to express just how sorry we are at your loss. now i'd like to provide you with a quick update since our last press conference late yesterday evening. this matter continues to be investigated as an act of terrorism. you about the fbi's knoxville

joint terrorism task force along with the chattanooga police department and our other federal, state and local partners. because the investigation is still in its early stages, it would be premature to speculate on exactly why the shooter did what he did. however, we are conducting a thorough investigation to determine whether this person acted alone. was inspired or directed and will exhaust all efforts in determining how and why this honorable act happened. because this is an ongoing investigation we are somewhat limited in what we can discuss but i can tell you as i speak right now personnel from the fbi, atf hsi troopers from the tennessee highway patrol chattanooga police officers and hamilton county sheriff's deputies along with other law enforcement throughout this nation are coming leads that are coming to our command center. some of those agents are part of our evidence response teams who are highly trained in crime

scene processing. they continue to meticulously document evidence documented at the crime scenes, teams from knoxville memphis and atlanta along with trajectory experts from the fbi laboratory are working on both scenes. fbi agents are partnering with state and locals to run down every lead that we have received. thus far we have covered. 70 leads and as our team continues to develop additional information, you may see or hear about fbi activity in other areas of the state and nation. victim wfns witness specialists will assist families of the victims. if you have any further evidence about the alleged shooter mohammed yousef abdulazeez, please call, no amount of

information is too small or insignificant. at this time we'll open the floor to questions. please state your question loudly. i will ask that you please tell me where you're coming from, which new agencies, and lastly if the question is not for me please indicate who the question is for. we'll start right over here. >> (inaudible) hearing he had an ak .47. >> i'm nothing going to go into specifics about what kind of weapon. i will tell you that he had at least two long guns which would be considered rifles or shotguns. >> we had a little satellite breakup from our feed from chattanooga, we'll give you back to them as soon as that is reestablished. little more information the

investigators are calling this a terrorist investigation the investigators will consider it a terrorist case no. the evidence shows otherwise. officers were of course responding to the call when they discovered mr. abdulazeez essentially driving down the highway and gave chase then he went to the second scene and killed more marines. >> whether it was an active situation or some other event. we do not believe anyone else is in danger in the chattanooga community. again we continue to explore all options as far as other options of other individuals who may or may not be involved. however at this point we do not believe there is imminent threat to anyone in the chattanooga area. yes, sir. >> (inaudible) two questions one for you and the u.s. attorney.

yesterday you said you considered this as an act of domestic terrorism.. today you left that out that word out domestic. is there a reason behind that? >> let me address that first. i think i also said yesterday don't get caught up in monikers. this is an investigation of terrorism. that investigations of terrorism are at an intense and higher level than a normal criminal investigation. and so if you investigate it as terrorism and it ends up being a simple criminal act then you've done more extensive investigation than you needed to. if you investigate it as a criminal act and it becomes terrorism you may have neglected to perform some investigation. we're investigating it at the highest level of investigation and i wouldn't get caught up in

monikers about whether it's domestic international this, that. it's a terrorism investigation. >> i would like you just to address the fbi (inaudible) little bit of information about what information happened at the second location. can you give us any more information not about motive or anything like that but what happened there. where was he confronted? when was he confronted? had he already shot people before he was confronted, those type of details. >> we are still trying to figure all of that out to be honest with you. we are just beginning to process that scene. we brought in a lot of special equipment in order to process it thoroughly. we have to look at trajectory, we have to look at shell casings, we have to look at impact where the rounds went. so is it our belief shortly

after he arrived he was engaged by chattanooga police officers. but he was a moving target. and he was able to obviously kill the four middle pleengs marines and wound the one soldier. >> where was the suspect finally cornered in the park outside that building? and where exactly were the marines slain inside the facility, in the parking lot outside you see the car rammed into a green fence. can you help us in that, please? >> the subject never left the confines of the military reserve. so he never went outside the fence once he gained entry into the facility. he was killed inside of the fence area. all of the marines were killed inside the fence as well. and i'm not going to go further

into detail as to exactly where they were located because it becomes part of the evidence. we may or may not use in trial. yes, sir. >> (inaudible) what can you tell us about the suspect's foreign travel and how significant that might be in the investigation? >> well obviously we're looking at any foreign travel he may have performed. we do know that he has traveled outside of the united states, we have -- we are exploring all travel that he has done and we have asked our intelligence partners throughout the world to provide us with any information they may have concerning his travel and/or activities while overseas. >> (inaudible). >> i'm not going to go into great detail as to exactly where he's traveled in an attempt not to hinder our partners overseas from being able to conduct their portion of the investigation. yes, ma'am.

>> police killed the suspect (inaudible). >> we have no -- the question was if you didn't hear was, did the police kill the suspect or did he kill himself? all indications are that he was killed by fire from the chattanooga police officers. we have no indication that there was any self-inflicted wounds however, we will examine that to ensure that that is the case. yes, sir. >> (inaudible) you talked a little bit about the weapons he had. can you tell us about whether or not he had any body armor or protective gear on his person while he engaged the police officers? >> yes, i can tell you and the question was was he wearing body armor. the answer was no, he was not wearing body armor. he was wearing what we consider a load-bearing vest, where he could carry additional rounds of ammunition while he moved around on foot. yes,