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New legislation could help protect recruiting stations after July 16 attacks

By Andy Sher March 4, 2016 1 min read

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Six months after July 16, texts, emails and records reflect day’s chaos

Several bullet holes can be seen in the windows of the Armed Forces Recruitment Center at Highway 153 and Lee Highway in Chattanooga.

Chattanooga Police Department Chief Fred Fletcher speaks from the podium during a news conference at the Chattanooga Fire Training center about a domestic terror incident that killed four Marines at the Naval Reserve facility on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Law enforcement load into an armored vehicle in a staging area on Hixson Pike before leaving to investigate the nearby home of gunman Muhammad Abdulazeez on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Abdulazeez is the gunman in a shooting at both the Lee Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway which left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

Retired marine Ben Cool watches news reports as he donates blood at the Blood Assurance center Thursday, July 116, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Cool came to donate blood after hearing about the shooting at both the Lee Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway which left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

Melody Kelley hugs Logan Wallace during a prayer vigil at Redemption Point Church on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The vigil followed a shooting at both the Lee Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway which left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

A memorial to shooting victims is in the parking lot near the Armed Forces Career Center, where authorities believe that Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez fired several rounds into the building before killing four Marines and wounding others in a second attack at another location Thursday, July 16, 2015.

Police officers enter the Armed Forces Career Center through a bullet-riddled door after a gunman opened fire on the building Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Authorities say there were multiple casualties including the gunman. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Dozens of police and emergency vehicles crowd Amnicola Highway after a morning shooting at the Naval and Marine Reserve Center at the Chattanooga Riverpark.
The Reserve Recruitment Center at Hwy 153 and Lee Hwy is cordoned off with blue shell casing markers in the parking lot.

NASHVILLE – Spurred by a gunman’s attack on military installations last summer in Chattanooga, the state House on Thursday approved legislation to spend $1.58 million to beef up security at Tennessee National Guard recruiting stations and armories across the state.

The National Guard Force Protection Act of 2016 passed 91-0. Senate Finance Committee members are scheduled to take up the bill next week. Republican Gov. Bill Haslam put money for the program in his proposed 2016-2017 budget.

Bill sponsor Charles Sargent, R-Franklin, the House Finance Committee chairman, alluded to the shooting attack on two U.S. military facilities, including the Naval Reserve Center on Amnicola Highway that left four Marines and a Navy specialist dead.

“It’s a great day today that we have this bill before us. As you know we had a tragedy last year in Hamilton County,” Franklin said.

Special forces veteran Mike Thrasher salutes as vehicles travel down Highway 153 in Hixson, Tenn., Friday, July 24, 2015 after the funeral service for U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. David Wyatt. Wyatt was one of five servicemen whose death was the result of the second of two shootings carried out by Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez within a 30-minute span in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 16, 2015.

The FBI later characterized the shooting by Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez as being “inspired” by terrorism. Abdulazeez died in a shootout with Chattanooga police at the reserve center. His family said he was mentally ill.

Inviting Hamilton County lawmakers to join him in front of the House, Sargent described hearings held last year on vulnerabilities at Tennessee National Guard facilities.

Photo Gallery

July 16 shooting: Five months later

Five quarters are seen atop the memorial to the five service members killed in a terror incident on July 16, 2015, is photographed on Monday, Dec. 14, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The memorial is located in front of the Armed Forces Career Center on Lee Highway next to Highway 153, the scene of the first shots fired in the July attack.

A wooden cross has been erected at the memorial to the five service members killed in a terror incident on July 16, 2015, seen Monday, Dec. 14, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The memorial is located in front of the Armed Forces Career Center on Lee Highway next to Highway 153, the scene of the first shots fired in the July attack.

The memorial to the five service members killed in a terror incident on July 16, 2015, is photographed on Monday, Dec. 14, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The memorial is located in front of the Armed Forces Career Center on Lee Highway next to Highway 153, the scene of the first shots fired in the July attack.

Marine SSgt David A. Wyatt is buried beside U.S. Navy LS2 Randall Scott Smith at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

The head stone of U.S. Navy LS2 Randall Scott Smith is situated beside Marine SSgt David A. Wyatt, right, at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

A creek stone, a quarter-dollar and a penny rests atop the head stones of U.S. Navy LS2 Randall Scott Smith, and Marine SSgt David A. Wyatt at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

He said lawmakers thought the facilities were secure before the attack. State Adj. Gen. Max Haston testified otherwise in specially called hearings, saying Guard facilities had long needed safety and protection upgrades.

Abdulazeez’s first attack was against a U.S. military recruiting station on Lee Highway, where a Marine recruiter was injured. A state National Guard recruiting center next to it was not struck.

But Haston said the attack proved the need for new protection, including special film for glass windows, electronically secured entry systems, video cameras and protective bollards to prevent vehicles from smashing into offices.

The bill doesn’t affect U.S. military facilities because states have no authority over them.

Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, also spoke to lawmakers.

“On July 16 we had a terrible tragedy in Chattanooga with a terrorist attack,” he said. “And we appreciate all the support from around the state and around the nation that we got. This is not just a resolution, this is putting some money helping these service members as they go to work.”

McCormick noted the recruiting stations are generally in retail areas like strip malls.

“That’s where they want to be where the people can be accessible to their military,” he said. “And they do a great job and they’re great people. They ought to be able to defend themselves. This will help them do that.”

Last year, Haston agreed to allow National Guard members with specific small-arms training and state handgun-carry permits to go armed in state recruiting centers. That required top Pentagon officials’ OK because the state space is handled under a federal lease. The armed Guard members must use U.S. military-issue weapons.

Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, chairman of the Legislature’s Veterans Caucus, told colleagues military personnel “risk their lives literally on a daily basis” overseas.

“They’re out there protecting us, protecting our freedom,” he said. “When they’re in the United States on home soil, here in the great state of Tennessee, they have the right to expect protection of their own lives. This bill enables that.”

Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com, 615-255-0550 or follow via twitter at AndySher1.