Four Marines And Gunman Dead In Tennessee

Four Marines and a gunman have been killed in an "incomprehensible" ambush on two military facilities in southern Tennessee.

The FBI is looking at whether the shooting was inspired by the Islamic State group, but so far there is no evidence to support that theory.

The attacks in Chattanooga took place about half an hour apart on Thursday morning, with the suspect stopping his silver Mustang convertible and spraying bullets at a naval recruitment centre.

He then drove across town to the Naval Reserve Center and shot dead four Marines before he was killed.

Three people were also injured, including a US Navy sailor said to have been seriously wounded, and a police officer shot in the ankle.

Officials named the gunman as 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, a naturalised American born in Kuwait with an electrical engineering degree.

Law enforcement later raided his home in Hixson, nine miles north of the shooting scene, and led away two females in handcuffs.

President Barack Obama said the attack was "heartbreaking" as he promised a thorough and prompt investigation.

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said earlier: "We had someone viciously attack at two different locations people who proudly serve our country."

He described the attack as "incomprehensible" and a "nightmare".

Chattanooga prosecutor Bill Killian said the incident was being treated as "an act of domestic terrorism".

Police Chief Fred Fletcher told reporters the gunman had "brazenly and brutally" targeted the facilities.

FBI spokesman Ed Reinhold said the recruiting office on the city's Lee Highway was fired upon first, with Abdulazeez shooting from inside the car and driving off.

A recruiting sergeant estimated there were 30 to 50 shots fired.

Mr Reinhold said the Marines were killed at the Naval Reserve Center, about 15 miles away.

The gunman died at the second location, but it is not yet clear if he was shot or took his own life.

Mr Reinhold said the attacks, involving a lone gunman, began at around 10.45am and lasted for about 35 minutes.

He added the suspect had "numerous weapons", though would not give details.

US Defence Secretary Ash Carter called the killings a "senseless act of violence" and a "heinous crime".

Marilyn Hutcheson, who works across the road from the Amnicola Highway site, said she heard bullets fly at about 11am.

"I couldn't even begin to tell you how many," she said. "It was rapid fire, like pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, so quickly.

"The next thing I knew, there were police cars coming from every direction."

Hussnain Javid, who attended the University of Tennessee with Abdulazeez, described the killer as a popular and "very outgoing" student who was also on the wrestling team.

America's National Counterterrorism Center said nothing had been uncovered so far to link the gunman to any terror group.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council, an advocacy group for American Muslims, issued a statement condemning the attack.

"Regardless of the intentions or motives behind the act, the attacks are cowardly and despicable," said Salam Al-Marayati, MPAC President.

"There will be those who will use this attack as a means to further divide us as Americans, and there will be violent extremists who will use this to underscore their narrative of an ongoing global war between Islam and the West. We reject both extremes."