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FBI Discovers al Qaeda Link on Pensacola Shooter’s iPhone, Report Says

Mohammed Alshamrani killed three U.S. sailors and wounded several others last year.

The Saudi Arabian military trainee who killed three U.S. sailors and wounded eight others last year in a military base shooting in Pensacola, Florida, was in contact with a suspected al Qaeda operative, according to a report from CNN. The link was said to be discovered after the FBI pierced the encryption protecting the Saudi attacker's iPhones. Mohammed Alshamrani, a member of the Royal Saudi Air Force who had been training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, was shot and killed by law enforcement during the attack last December. The Justice Department described the attack as an act of terrorism that was motivated by “jihadist ideology,” and was expected to detail their findings at a press conference Monday.