A Navy officer and one of the Marines killed in the attacks on two military facilities in Chattanooga last week may have fired their personal firearms in hopes of disabling the shooter.
The Navy Times reported that several military sources citing an internal report given to top Navy officials said that Lt. Cmdr. Timothy White, the commanding officer at the Navy Operational Support Center where one of the shootings occurred last Thursday, shot his personal firearm at the guman.
A source in the Navy also confirmed a report, first in the Washington Post, that one of the four Marines killed by the shooter also may have been carrying a 9mm Glock and may have fired at gunman Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, who was shot and killed.
In theory, either White or the slain Marine could have hit Abdulazeez, though it won’t be known until an autopsy and ballistics tests are completed. Law enforcement investigators refused to comment on the twin reports.
If White and the Marine were indeed armed with personal firearms at the support center, they would likely have been in violation of Defense Department policy.
In the wake of the attacks that killed five servicemen, Republican politicians and veterans have called for military personnel to be allowed to carry firearms at bases, recruiting centers and other facilities for protection.
"The brave men and women of our military who volunteer to defend our nation around the world should not be left defenseless at military facilities here at home. I have long supported the right of military personnel to carry firearms for personal and force protection," Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement last week.
Federal investigators have launched a full-scale terrorism investigation into the attacks.