Recruitment Center Shooting Act of Terrorism

UPDATE: The suspect arrested was under investigation by the FBI’s Joint Terrorist Task Force since his return from Yemen.

The investigation was in its preliminary stages, authorities said, and was based on the suspect’s travel to Yemen and his arrest there for using a Somali passport.

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Just after 5:00 this evening, Little Rock Police say Abulhakin Muhammad, also known as Carlos Bledsoe, will be charged with capital murder and 15 counts of terroristic acts after a shooting at an Army/Navy recruitment center on Rodney Parham Road in Little Rock.

Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas says Muhammad, originally of Memphis, targeted military personnel.

23-year-old Private William Long, of Conway, died as a result of his injuries.

18-year-old Private Quinton Ezeagwula, of Jacksonville, was also shot. Chief Thomas says he is in stable condition and will recover.

Around two o’clock Monday afternoon, police and bomb squad officers went Muhammad’s apartment off Napa Valley Drive in the Bristol Park complex.

The military revealed information about what the victims were doing at the center. Lt. Col. Thomas F. Artis, Commander of the Oklahoma recruiting battalion which has command over the Little Rock recruiting station says the soldiers were enlisted men, not officers, and that they did not work as recruiters. Lt. Col. Artis says they were part of a recruiting program called “hometown recruiting assistance.”

He says recruiters use these soldiers to tell their stories to talk to potential recruits, and that it is a volunteer position they do while they are visiting or based back in their home region.” Lt. Col. Artis says he does not know who the suspect was, and says it’s not clear if the man was in the military or not.

After the suspect’s vehicle was stopped, the Little Rock Bomb Squad was called in over concern about some bags found inside. The scene was closed off and traffic along the I-30 entrance ramp from I-630 was backed up for some time. The vehicle was finally towed away just before one o’clock.

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