A Muslim convert who said he was opposed to the U.S. military shot two soldiers outside an Arkansas recruiting station, killing one of the soldiers, police said Monday.
“This individual appears to have been upset with the military, the Army in particular, and that’s why he did what he did,” Little Rock Police Lt. Terry Hastings said in a phone interview.
”He has converted to Muslim here in the past few years,” Hastings said. “To be honest we’re not completely clear on what he was upset about. He had never been in the military.”
Hastings identified the man in custody as Carlos Bledsoe, 24, of Little Rock, who was going by the name of Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad. He did not have further details. The names of the soldiers were not released, nor was the condition of the wounded soldier.
Hastings said the attacker pulled up in a car outside an Army-Navy recruiting office about 10:30 a.m. local time and fired. The two soldiers were outside the office when shot.
According to the Associated Press, the vehicle was stopped on Interstate 630 a short time later and the suspect was taken into custody. Police found an assault rifle in the vehicle.
The recruiting office is part of a shopping center at a commercialized intersection. Jim Richardson, the manager at a drug store around the corner from the Army-Navy center, said people at the store didn’t realize anything was amiss until hearing sirens outside.
“Nobody heard any gunshots,” Richardson said.
Lt. Col. Thomas F. Artis of the Oklahoma City Recruiting Battalion, which oversees the Little Rock office, said the victims had just completed basic training and were not regular recruiters. He said they were serving two weeks in the Little Rock office.
As part of the Hometown Recruiting Assistance Program, the soldiers were sent to “talk to friends, folks in the local area. They can show the example, ‘Here’s where I was, and here is where I am,’” Artis said.
Artis said neither of the soldiers had been deployed for combat.
Steven Johnson, an 18-year-old recruit, was on his way to take a qualifying test when he found police cars at the scene. By early afternoon, Johnson was waiting patiently outside the yellow police tape that was blocking access to the office.
“I’m going to check and see if they’re all right,” he said.
As you well now if you’ve followed the latest terror attacks in Europe their newest threat is native born, or new converts to Islam on their own soil. Now we see another story this time in Arkansas about an American Islamic extremist. I can’t help but wonder if the government propaganda machine will sweep this one under the rug like the muslim who attacked those people on the bus and slit the bus drivers throat, or the Washington snipers? I for one am over this tip toeing around the Islamic issue and don’t mind offending these turban wearing thugs! this isn’t a religion of peace in the 70’s the black gangs in Chicago, new York, L.A and other major cities in the U.S. hid under the guise of Islam to further their own criminal activities. Thank the good God that we weren’t so politically correct then. or these radical minority groups would have taken root and destroyed America years ago.
so does Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad have a “Ron Paul” bumper sticker?? well, then, how are we supposed to figure out he’s a terrorist. gee, I’m STUMPED. we all know that only christian, conservative republicans are dangerous. everybody else is a victim of christian, conservative republicans, RIGHT??
[...] notice though via their new logic that no mention of Islam having any blame in one of its adherants murdering an innocent soldier! you wont because their logic is biased and prejudicial against one group: Christians, which proves [...]