Update: Army Recruiter Killed In LR Shooting

Police are trying to determine a motive for the fatal shooting at an Army recruiting office in Little Rock. One recruiter, 23-year-old William Long, was killed and another wounded when a man in a black vehicle opened fire at the west Little Rock shopping center.



The two men were wounded outside an Army recruiting office in the Ashley Square Shopping Center off Rodney Parham Road near Reservoir Road around 10:20 a.m.

According to Little Rock police, someone inside a black SUV opened fire on two recruiters standing outside the office. William Long, 23, of Conway, died late Monday morning of multiple gunshot wounds. The other victim, 19-year-old Quinton Ezeagwula of Jacksonville, is reportedly in serious condition but is expected to recover.

Recruiting commander Lt. Col Thomas F. Artis says the victims had just completed basic training and were spending two weeks in Little Rock to recruit in their home area, showing the difference that less than two months of training made in their lives.

Police say the suspect, Abdulhakim Margahid Muhammad, also known as Carlos Bledsoe, is believed to have been specifically targeting military personnel. Authorities say Muhammad apparently acted alone in the shootings. He is being charged with one count of Capital Murder and 15 counts of terroristic threatening. Police searched Muhammad's apartment off Mara Lynn Drive Monday afternoon, seizing evidence related to the shooting.

The FBI is also involved in the investigation.

Little Rock police caught up with Muhammad shortly after the shooting at the intersection of I-30 and I-630 near downtown Little Rock. Little Rock Police Lt. Terry Hastings says weapons, including an assault rifle, were found inside the SUV. A shotgun and another weapon were also found inside the vehicle.

The Little Rock Fire Department's bomb squad was called in after a suspicious device was found inside the suspect's vehicle after it was stopped on Interstate 30 near Interstate 630. No explosives were found.

Traffic at the I-30/630 interchange was blocked for about three hours while authorities searched the suspects vehicle.

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A man with "political and religious motives" killed a soldier just out of basic training and wounded another Monday in a targeted attack on a military recruiting center, police said. The shootings were not believed to be part of a broader scheme.

The soldiers completed basic training within the past two weeks and were not regular recruiters, said Lt. Col. Thomas F. Artis of the Oklahoma City Recruiting Battalion, which oversees the Little Rock office.

William Long, 24, of Conway, died, and Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, was wounded and in stable condition, Police Chief Stuart Thomas said.

Both men were from nearby hometowns and volunteered to work at the recruiting center to attract other locals to the military. "They can show the example, 'Here's where I was, and here is where I am,'" Artis said.

Police arrested Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, along a crosstown interstate moments after the shootings at the Army-Navy Career Center in a shopping center in west Little Rock.

Muhammad acted alone, the police chief said, and based on an interview with officers, the suspect "probably had political and religious motives for the attack." He lived in an apartment just 1.5 miles from the recruiting center. A search warrant had been obtained for the apartment.

Thomas said Muhammad, previously known as Carlos Bledsoe, would be charged with first-degree murder, plus 15 counts of committing a terroristic act. Thomas said those counts result from the gunfire occurring near other people.

The accused shooter's father, Melvin Bledsoe of Memphis, Tenn., hung up on a reporter who called about his son's arrest Monday night.

Witnesses told police that a man inside a black vehicle pulled up outside the recruiting center and opened fire about 10:30 a.m. Long fell onto the sidewalk outside the center while Ezeagwula was able to crawl toward its door.

Police said Muhammad's vehicle was stopped on Interstate 630 a short time later and the suspect was taken into custody. Police Lt. Terry Hastings said the suspect surrendered without incident. Police found an assault rifle and other weapons in the vehicle.

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.

Steven Johnson, an 18-year-old recruit, was on his way to take a qualifying test when he found police cars at the center. By early afternoon, Johnson was waiting patiently outside the yellow police tape.

"I'm going to check and see if they're all right," he said.

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New information is available on why Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad allegedly shot two recruiters at an Army-Navy Recruting Office Monday, and who he is.


He recently changed his name from Carlos Bledsoe.
Authorities say he's originally from Nashville, Tenn.

Tuesday during his arraignment he pleaded not guilty, but a police report says Muhammad admitted to the shooting saying quote "because of what they had done to Muslims in the past."

Tuesday morning flowers mark the spot where soldiers were shot down a day earlier.

"I saw two soldiers laid out one of them was about to crawl back into the building he had been hit in his back and behind his neck," explains Lance Luplow who witnessed the shooting.

Several police agencies are investigating why Abdulhakim Muhammad allegedly loaded up his Ford Sport Trac with three guns including an assault rifle, and headed here on the hunt for people in uniform.

Police say Muhammad moved to Little Rock in April. He lived in an apartment on building on Mara Lynn Drive. His neighbors who didn't want to go on camera say he was relatively quiet and they're surprised by his arrest. Before moving there reports indicate he lived in Nashville, Tennessee and spent time in Memphis and Yemen.

Memphis neighbors say he comes from a good family.

"He speaks to me I speak to him, he has a great mom and dad a great family period," says former neighbor Reggie Farmer.

However, according to police reports, Muhammad admitted firing several rounds at the soldiers "with the intent of killing them, "something hard for neighbors to believe.

"He's a very good kid. Carlos is a very good kid, very smart, mannerable, consistent as far as his personal behavior he's a good guy," says Farmer.

Police say he is a practicing Muslim who told them he's mad at the U.S. military.

Iftikhar Pathan is the president of the Islamic Center in Little Rock he says Muhammad is not a member of the mosque and his alleged actions go against their beliefs.

"The name Islam means peace and there's no such thing as violence in Islam."

"Islam basically teaches about peace and harmony but people have their own problems and their own minds which creates these kind of problems."

Several shots went into the recruiting station, but didn't hit anyone inside. There were both civilians and other soldiers there at the time.

In addition to capital murder, Muhammad is charged with 16 counts of Terroristic Acts.

That's because of the 15 people inside the recruitment office who could have been caught in the cross fire, and the shooting of Private Quinton Ezeagwula.

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A Muslim convert who pleaded not guilty to killing a soldier outside a recruiting center had the firepower to take out many more while on a mission to "kill as many people in the Army as he could," police said.

In documents released Tuesday, authorities said they recovered Molotov cocktails, three guns and ammunition from Abdulhakim Muhammad's truck after the attack Monday in a suburban Little Rock shopping center.

Muhammad targeted soldiers "because of what they had done to Muslims in the past," authorities said.

Pvt. William Long, 23, was killed and Pvt. Quinton I. Ezeagwula, 18, was wounded. Both completed basic training within the past two weeks and had never seen combat. They volunteered to help attract others into military service, and were shot as they smoked cigarettes outside the recruiting center.

On Tuesday, Muhammad, also 23, pleaded not guilty to one count of capital murder and 16 counts of committing a terrorist act — and could face the death penalty. He is being held without bond. Federal prosecutors also are considering charges.

An internal law enforcement memo says Muhammad may have considered other targets, including military sites and Jewish organizations in the Southeast.

The memo was described to The Associated Press by someone who had seen it. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss its contents.

After the attack, investigators searched a computer connected to Muhammad and found research into multiple sites in different states, according to the memo. Investigators are working to determine if anyone else knew about Muhammad's intentions.

Police stopped Muhammad moments after the shootings on a highway that would have taken him to Memphis, Tenn., where he lived until he moved to Little Rock in the last couple of months.

Search warrant affidavits showed that police recovered weapons and caches of ammunition from Muhammad's truck and apartment. Officers confiscated an SKS assault rifle believed to be used in the shootings, a .22-caliber rifle with a laser sight, other firearms, Molotov cocktails, homemade silencers and compact disks with Arabic writing on them.

The truck also held a plastic tub filled with bottles of water, "canned food, boxed food, bagged food and a butane lighter" and, incongruously, a golf score card.

Once in custody, one affidavit said, Muhammad told officers what he had wanted to accomplish.

"Mr. Muhammad ... advised that his intent was to kill as many people in the Army as he could," according to Little Rock police Detective Robert A. Martin.

During the court proceeding Tuesday, Deputy Prosecutor Scott Duncan said Muhammad told investigators that "he would have killed more soldiers had they been in the parking lot."

Muhammad had been under investigation by an FBI-led terrorism task force since he returned to the United States from Yemen last year, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official said Muhammad had been jailed in Yemen at some point for using a Somali passport. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Muhammad, formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe, had moved to Little Rock this spring as his father, Melvin Bledsoe of Memphis, Tenn., expanded a tour bus company. Muhammad was one of the drivers and served clients from a Hilton hotel in Little Rock.

Bledsoe's Twin City Tours had an airport shuttle for hotel guests and would also take patrons on tours of Little Rock and North Little Rock, Hilton general manager Bob Martorana said Tuesday.

Martorana said he knew Muhammad, who went by Hakim, and regularly saw him behind the wheel of a motorcoach since April, when the company expanded to Little Rock.

Bledsoe appears to be pulling back to Memphis. "They ceased operations as of yesterday," Martorana said.

"We were just given the direction by Mr. Bledsoe to remove everything. We just put it aside," he said. Martorana said he expects Bledsoe to pick up his materials next week.

An answering service picked up calls to Bledsoe's Little Rock office. A man answering the phone at the Memphis office said Bledsoe wasn't there and wouldn't comment on the business.

Muhammad is in protective custody at the Pulaski County jail. Prosecutor Larry Jegley said it could be nine weeks before his office receives the case file from police. Defendants have to be charged in circuit court within 60 business days of their first court appearance.

John Soos, a civilian spokesman for the Oklahoma City Recruiting Battalion, said Ezeagwula will likely be transferred to a military hospital for continued treatment and the Army was willing to provide a military funeral for Long.

"We just have to wait and see what needs they have," he said.

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Dixie said:

I do feel bad about the shooting and they had his funeral today, but I had nothing to say about it. Thus I did not reply.

The odd thing about it is that Abdulakeem Muhammad used to go by another name, was a member of the military and apparently recently converted to Islam. The local rabbi/sheik has denounced the shooting and has publicly stated that his Mosque does not teach violence and does not support violence in the name of Allah.

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Jiro said:

that's the big big big problem right now. This is what happens when you combine troubled youth + religions. Majority of terrorists are young people. All religions denounce violence but........

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Prosecutors told a judge Friday they'll seek the death penalty for a Muslim convert who allegedly shot and killed a soldier outside an Arkansas Army recruiting center.

Abdulhakim Muhammad, 24, pleaded not guilty to the June shooting outside the center that killed Pvt. William Andrew Long and wounded another soldier. Muhammad, who was born Carlos Bledsoe, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview last month that he considered the shooting justified because it was in retaliation for U.S. military action in the Middle East.

Muhammad said nothing during his brief appearance in court, standing handcuffed at the wrists and ankles. A Pulaski County judge set a Feb. 15 trial date.

His lawyer Claiborne Ferguson declined an initial mental evaluation for his client during the hearing but told reporters afterward he didn't know whether he'd ask for one. Ferguson wouldn't say whether Muhammad's calls to the AP would hurt his case.

"Obviously, he understands the situation that he is in and ... I think we'll have a good working relationship," the lawyer said.

The slain soldier's father, Daris Long, told reporters before Friday's hearing that he didn't expect Muhammad to be tried quickly.

"I've got to figure this is going to be a long, long drawn-out thing," Long said.

Long, 23, of Conway had just completed basic training and was volunteering at the suburban Little Rock recruiting office before starting an assignment in South Korea. Police say Muhammad shot Long and wounded another private who were smoking cigarettes outside of the station June 1. Police arrested Muhammad a short time later and recovered an assault rifle and two other weapons in the vehicle.

Since his arrest, Muhammad has called the AP bureau in Little Rock, saying he claimed responsibility for the shooting.

"Yes, I did tell the police upon my arrest that this was an act of retaliation, and not a reaction on the soldiers personally," Muhammad said.

Muhammad converted to Islam and traveled to Yemen in September 2007. Immigration officials there arrested him in November 2008 after he overstayed his visa and had a fake Somali passport.

His previous defense lawyer, Jim Hensley, said Muhammad traveled to Yemen and became radicalized after being tortured in a prison there. The Yemen Embassy and Muhammad both denied the torture claim.

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