2009 Little Rock recruiting office shooting
| 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting |
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|---|---|
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| Location | 9112 North Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA |
| Coordinates | 34°45′33″N 92°22′31″W / 34.75918°N 92.37533°WCoordinates: 34°45′33″N 92°22′31″W / 34.75918°N 92.37533°W |
| Date | June 1, 2009 10:19 a.m. |
| Target | U.S. military recruiting office |
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Attack type
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Drive-by shooting |
| Weapons | SKS rifle |
| Deaths | 1 |
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Non-fatal injuries
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1 |
| Victim |
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| Perpetrator | Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad |
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Suspected perpetrators
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al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula |
The 2009 Little Rock recruiting office shooting took place on June 1, 2009, when the American Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, born Carlos Leon Bledsoe, opened fire with a rifle in a drive-by shooting on soldiers in front of a United States military recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas. He killed Private William Long and wounded Private Quinton Ezeagwula.
After his arrest, Muhammad acknowledged shooting the men. He told police that he had intended to kill as many Army personnel as possible. He had an SKS rifle, a Mossberg International 702 rifle, two handguns, 562 rounds of ammunition, and military books in his car. Muhammad was charged with capital murder, attempted capital murder, and 10 counts of unlawful discharge of a weapon. Muhammad also reportedly faced 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act.
A convert to Islam, Muhammad had gone to Yemen in 2007 to teach English, staying about 16 months. He was deported from Yemen to the United States, after having overstayed his visa and been detained.
In January 2010, Muhammad wrote to the judge in his case. He claimed that he was sent on the attacks by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and pleaded guilty to the charges of capital murder. He had not consulted with his lawyers, and no independent confirmation of his claim has been made. His father described him as "unable to process reality".
The lead prosecutor for Pulaski County, Arkansas, said about Muhammad's attack, "If you strip away what he says, self-serving or not, it’s just an awful killing, it’s like a lot of other killings we have."
His shooting attack was the first of two in 2009 at US military facilities. In the Fort Hood shooting in November, a US Army psychiatrist shot and killed 13 and wounded 29 other soldiers. Although a Senate special report chaired by the Independent Joseph Lieberman declared it "the deadliest terrorist attack within the United States since September 11, 2001",Nidal Malik Hasan was charged with murder and was sentenced to death.
The Arkansas prosecutor took the Muhammad case to trial in 2011. The defense lawyers said that the young man suffered "a delusional disorder". During the trial, Muhammad changed his plea to guilty and the prosecutor accepted it. On July 25, 2011, Muhammed was sentenced to life in prison.
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Wikipedia