Obama: Shootings of Marines in Tennessee ‘heartbreaking’

President Obama called the murder of four Marines in Tennessee Thursday “heartbreaking” and asked all Americans to pray for the victims’ families in what one investigator called an act of domestic terrorism.

Mr. Obama said the attacker, who was also killed, appeared to be a lone gunman and that federal authorities are still gathering details. The president said he was offering his “deepest sympathies to the American people” for the attacks.

The FBI identified the gunman as 24-year-old Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, a 2012 graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

“While it would be premature to speculate on the motives of the shooter at this time, we will conduct a thorough investigation of this tragedy and provide updates as they are available,” the FBI said.

The four Marines were killed when the gunman attacked two military sites in Chattanooga, the U.S. Navy said. The suspected shooter also was killed, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said.

Investigators “have not determined whether it was an act of terrorism or whether it was a criminal act,” Ed Reinhold, FBI special agent in charge, told reporters. “We are looking at every possible avenue, whether it was terrorism — whether it was domestic, international — or whether it was a simple, criminal act.”

U.S. Attorney Bill Killian earlier told reporters that authorities were treating the shooting as an “act of domestic terrorism.”

The shootings unfolded at two sites over 30 minutes, Mr. Reinhold said.

The suspected gunman started spraying bullets at the glass doors of a military recruiting center at a strip mall about 10:45 a.m., witnesses said. From there, he headed to another location more than seven miles away, an operational support center operated by the U.S. Navy.

There, he killed four Marines before he was shot dead, Mr. Reinhold said.

At least three people were injured, officials said, including a police officer and a military service member.