CHATTANOOGA — (CNN) The father of one of the victims in last week’s shootings in Chattanooga, TN, said it’s ironic that the man accused of killing his son is from Kuwait.
“I went to Desert Storm and liberated Kuwait,” said Kip Wells, a former Marine. “It just happened to be a Kuwaiti-born guy who took my son’s life.”
Lance Corporal Skip Wells, a 2012 graduate of Sprayberry High School in Cobb County, was killed Thursday. Authorities say Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, opened fire at a military recruiting office and a Navy-Marine operations center on Thursday, killing Wells and three other Marines. A sailor wounded in the attack died Saturday.
Abdulazeez was killed by police after a chase.
A representative of Abdulazeez’s family, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid unwanted publicity, says relatives believe depression and personal struggles are at the heart of the killings.
Abdulazeez had spent several months in Jordan last year under a mutual agreement with his parents to help him get away from drugs, alcohol and a group of friends who relatives considered a bad influence, the spokesman said
Counterterrorism investigators continue to interview Abdulazeez’s acquaintances and delve into his visit to Jordan, looking for clues to whom or what might have influenced him and set off the bloodshed.
In the meantime, members of the East Cobb County community are planning a memorial service for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the stadium of Sprayberry High School.
“Skip had a big heart and wanted to make a difference in the world,” said his father. The Wells family is still finalizing funeral plans.
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