Saudi king calls Trump, expresses ‘anger’ over ‘barbaric’ US naval air base shooting

Saudi king calls Trump, expresses 'anger' over 'barbaric' US naval air base shooting

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday received a call from the king of Saudi Arabia, who expressed “anger” on the “barbaric act” of shooting by a Saudi national at a naval airbase in Florida that left four people dead.

The deceased include the shooter, identified as a Saudi national Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani. Eight others including at least two law enforcement officials were injured in the attack at the US naval air base Pensacola, Florida, Friday morning.

“King Salman of Saudi Arabia just called to express his sincere condolences and give his sympathies to the families and friends of the warriors who were killed and wounded in the attack that took place in Pensacola, Florida,” Trump said in a tweet Friday afternoon.

“The King said that the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter and that this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people,” Trump said in his tweet.

According to media reports, the shooter was a member of the Saudi Air Force and was training at the base.
“There’s obviously going to be a lot of questions about this individual being a foreign national, being a part of the Saudi Air Force and then to be here training on our soil and to do this,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters at a news conference.

The Governor spoke with Trump earlier in the day.
“Obviously the government of Saudi Arabia needs to make things better for these victims. I think they’re going to owe a debt here given that this was one of their individuals,” he said. PTI