Little Rock Shooter Eyed Bigger Targets

Details continue to emerge about Abdulhakim Muhammad, the man arrested for killing an Army recruiter and wounding a second man in Little Rock on Monday.

As Fox News reported, investigators found evidence on Muhammad's computer indicating he may have studied other possible targets to attack. They included Jewish organizations, a Baptist church and a child care center. That prompted an alert from the Department of Homeland Security to state and local police officials.

"Although the June 1 shooting was limited to Little Rock ... [we] notified specific cities, and out of an abundance of caution, issued the alert because additional subjects, targets or the potential for inspired copycats could not be ruled out," a government official told Fox. "This remains an open and ongoing FBI investigation."

The searches, which included possible targets in several states, raised the specter that Muhammad was working with other people.

The IPT reported that Muhammad, 23, traveled to Yemen hoping to study under a radical Islamic cleric there. He is accused of killing Private William Long and wounding Private Quinton I. Ezeagwula. Muhammad gave a statement to police indicating he shot the men because he saw them outside a Little Rock Army recruiting office. He would have shot more people if he saw them, he reportedly told police.

An SKS assault rifle, believed to be the murder weapon, was found in Muhammad's truck, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition. It wasn't the first time authorities found him with an SKS, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. He was arrested in 2004, before his conversion to Islam and when his name was Corey Bledsoe, after police found the rifle and two shotguns in a car in which he was traveling as a passenger during a routine traffic stop.

Bledsoe said the guns were his and that he planned to sell them. The charge against him was later dismissed.

Related Topics: IPT News

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