CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – A wounded U.S. Navy sailor died on Saturday, bringing the toll to five service members killed in last week’s attacks on military centers in Chattanooga, the Navy announced.
The military did not identify the latest victim, but family members have previously said that Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, 26, was among the injured and was in critical condition.
Smith had lived in Paulding County, Ohio, before joining the service.
Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, opened fire at two military-related locations in Chattanooga on Thursday, shooting seven people in what officials are investigating as a terrorist attack. Abdulazeez was killed by police at the Navy Operational Support Center.
According to the Navy statement, “a male Navy petty officer succumbed to wounds” at 2:17 a.m. EDT Saturday.
In addition to Smith, four Marines were killed in Thursday’s attack.
They are: Lance Cpl. Squire K. Wells of Cobb, Ga., Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan of Hampden, Mass., Sgt. Carson Holmquist of Polk, Wis., and Staff Sgt. David Wyatt of Burke, N.C.
The two surviving wounded are an unidentified Marine recruiter, who was shot in the leg, and Chattanooga Police Officer Dennis Pedigo, who was shot in the ankle and is listed in stable condition after surgery.
Investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the attacks, first on a recruiting station in a strip mall, then on the Navy center about seven miles away. They are concentrating on a trip Abdulazeez took to Jordan and his activities on the Internet. The incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack, but no ties to any foreign extremist groups have been found.
The shootings have increased concerns about security at recruiting facilities which are open to the public and where service personnel are not armed. Military officials have said they are reviewing all security policies.
Meanwhile, local officials in Florida and Texas on Saturday ordered their own steps.
Gov. Rick Scott ordered Florida National Guard recruiters to move from six storefront locations into armories until state officials can make security improvements, including possibly installing bulletproof glass or enhanced surveillance equipment. Scott’s executive order also calls on National Guard officers to make sure all full-time members of the guard are armed.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he will authorize his state’s National Guard to arm personnel at military facilities.
Meanwhile, a steady stream of mourners gathered outside the Marine Corps Reserve Center on Saturday morning to pay their respects. Four wooden crosses, with the names of the fallen Marines in black marker pen, stood in a neat row with U.S. flags, balloons and carnations.
Janelle Branch, 29, a cosmetics associate, wiped away tears as her husband and sons updated the memorial, positioning five American flags on the grassy bank of the four-lane highway.
“It’s just so sad, so senseless,” she said.
Kenneth Rush, 48, a former Marine from Odessa, Texas, took a 200-mile detour to Chattanooga while traveling back home from visiting his son in North Carolina.
“What’s 200 miles when five lives are sacrificed?” he said. “It’s five of my brothers down here.”
On Friday night, a diverse crowd of more than 600 people – some in military uniforms, others in hijabs – attended an interfaith memorial service on Friday at Olivet Baptist Church.
All who took to the pulpit, including Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim, spoke of unity. Residents of Chattanooga, they said, would not be divided by the attacks.
