Shooter came from troubled family, divorce papers show

In this aerial image taken from video, law enforcement personnel work the scene of a shooting at the Navy Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center Chattanooga Thursday, July 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Authorities say Kuwait-born Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, of Hixson, Tenn., unleashed a barrage of gun fire from his car at a recruiting center and the U.S. military site, killing at least four Marines before he was shot to death by police. (WTVF via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT, NO SALES
In this aerial image taken from video, law enforcement personnel work the scene of a shooting at the Navy Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center Chattanooga Thursday, July 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Authorities say Kuwait-born Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, of Hixson, Tenn., unleashed a barrage of gun fire from his car at a recruiting center and the U.S. military site, killing at least four Marines before he was shot to death by police. (WTVF via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT, NO SALES

Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, the suspect in the shooting of four U.S. Marines in Chattanooga on Thursday morning, grew up in an abusive home, court documents allege.

In a divorce complaint filed in Hamilton County Chancery Court, Rasmia Ibrahim Abdulazeez alleged that Abdulazeez's father, her husband, beat and verbally abused his wife in front of his children.

She also said that her husband sexually assaulted her while the children were in the home.

Rasmia Abdulazeez filed for the divorce in February 2009, though she withdrew the complaint 22 days later.

Mohammad Abdulazeez's father, Youssuf Saed Abdulazeez, is a soil engineering specialist for the Chattanooga Department of Public Works.

According to the complaint for divorce, the elder Abdulazeez also beat his children, striking them and yelling at them "without provocation or justification."

He also was accused of telling Rasmia Abdulazeez that he was going to take a second wife, "as permitted under certain circumstances under Islamic law."

At one point, according to the complaint, Rasmia Abdulazeez's brothers visited Chattanooga from Washington, D.C., and Kuwait to help resolve the marital issues.

"Since that discussion with the Defendant, and their return to their homes, Defendant has become more abusive towards the Plaintiff by refusing to talk with her," Rasmia Abdulazeez's attorney, John Meldorf, wrote in the complaint. "However, Defendant did sexually abuse Plaintiff a second time after the brother from Washington, D.C. came to discuss the marriage with him."

In the complaint, Rasmia Abdulazeez said her husband also kept all the money, giving her no chance to find her own home. She asked for custody of the couple's five children. They had been married for 28 years at that point.

"She is in fear for her safety at the hands of the Defendant," Meldorf wrote. "She avers that unless a Restraining Order is entered removing him from the marital home and preventing him from coming around her, she will be irrevocably injured."

The lawsuit was dismissed later that month, after Youssuf Abdulazeez agreed to sign a postnuptial agreement. He promised to attend counseling, both by himself and with his wife.

He also agreed to give Rasmia Abdulazeez $200 on the fourth day of every month. And if they got divorced, he said he would give her $100,000, plus legal fees.

He also agreed to spend an hour every night with her to discuss family issues, like when a child was disrespectful to his or her parent.

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