AT least four US Marines were killed when a gunman unleashed a barrage of shots at two military facilities in Tennessee yesterday, officials said. The suspect was also killed.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said a total of five people died, including the gunman.
The gunman was later named as 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, a US citizen born in Kuwait.
US Attorney Bill Killian said officials were treating the attacks as an "act of domestic terrorism", though FBI Special Agent in Charge Ed Reinhold said authorities were still investigating a motive.
Two officials told the Associated Press that four US Marines were among the dead. A soldier was being treated in hospital for a gunshot wound to the leg, according to one of the officials. The other official said a police officer was also injured.
The gunman was killed by police near the US Navy reserve centre on Amnicola Highway, about a five minute drive away.
"Lives have been lost from some faithful people who have been serving our country, and I think I join all Tennesseans in being both sickened and saddened by this," Governor Bill Haslam said.
There was also a shooting at a military recruitment centre about seven miles away.
Brian Lepley, a spokesman for the US Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox, Kentucky, said his recruiters there were told by law enforcement that the gunman, who was in a car, stopped in front of the facility, fired at the building and drove off.
The Army recruiters told Mr Lepley they were not hurt and had evacuated. Mr Lepley said he had no information about recruiters for the other military branches at the facility.
Sergeant 1st Class Robert Dodge, an Army recruiter in Chattanooga, said he was at his office when someone opened fire and he heard 30 to 50 shots.
President Barack Obama has been briefed by his national security team on the shootings, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said, adding that the president will continue getting updates from his staff as needed.
Marilyn Hutcheson, who works just across the street, said she heard a barrage of gunfire at around 11am local time.
"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."
She ran inside, where she remained locked down with other employees and a customer. The gunfire continued with occasional bursts, she estimated, for 20 minutes.
"We're apprehensive," Ms Hutcheson said. "Not knowing what transpired, if it was a grievance or terroristic related, we just don't know."
