Navy: Saudi Flight Trainees Are Grounded In Aftermath Of Pensacola Shooting

By Richard Gonzales / NPR

Published December 10, 2019 at 1:08 PM PST

This story was published more than 4 years ago.

Officials announced they would suspend training for Saudi Arabian military pilots after the fatal shootings last week at the Pensacola Naval Air Station.

The U.S. Navy has indefinitely suspended flight training for more than 300 Saudi Arabian students at three Florida bases in the aftermath of the deadly shooting by a Saudi Air Force officer at the Pensacola Naval Air Station last week.

Classroom training will resume this week and flight training for other international students will start again, according to Navy officials who call the restriction a "safety stand-down."

The move affects 140 Saudi trainees at Pensacola Naval Air Station, 35 at nearby Whiting Field, and 128 at Naval Air Station Mayport.

Become a KPBS sponsor

The Saudi shooter, 21-year old Mohammed Alshamrani, killed three young Navy sailors and injured eight other people after opening fire with a legally purchased handgun in a classroom building last Friday. The shooter was killed by a sheriff's deputy responding to the shooting.