FBI: Shooter at Naval Air Station Pensacola had link to al-Qaida

[Tony]

The gunman in a deadly rampage late last year at a military base in Florida communicated with al-Qaida operatives about the attacks in the months leading up to it, U.S. officials said Monday as they laid out new details of a shooting that killed three American sailors.

The FBI learned of the contacts between Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani and operatives of al-Qaida after breaking the encryption on cellphones that previously had been locked and that the shooter, a Saudi Air Force officer, had tried to destroy before being killed by law enforcement. https://www.stripes.com/news/navy/fbi-shooter-at-naval-air-station-pensacola-had-link-to-al-qaida-1.630188