Claims of domestic violence in home of Chattanooga gunman
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Court documents obtained by CBS News reveal claims of domestic violence in the family home of Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, the man identified as the gunman in the deadly Chattanooga attacks.
Four Marines and a Navy sailor were killed and a police officer was wounded. Abdulazeez was also killed.
Abdulazeez's mother filed for divorce from her husband of 28 years claiming he was abusive, according to court documents dated February 2009. Ultimately, the couple did not get divorced, but the document did reveal what life may have been like inside the home.
In the complaint, the suspect's mother, Rasmia Ibrahim Abdulazeez, said there are five children in the family and her husband, Youssuf Saed Abdulazeez, had repeatedly beaten her, at times in front of them. Rasmia said on one occasion, she was beaten so severely she fled their home and went to a crisis center. She requested a restraining order and custody of the youngest child.
In the documents, Rasmia also claimed she was sexually assaulted by her husband while the children were in the home. The documents allege that, on occasion, Youssuf had also been abusive towards the children, striking and berating them without provocation or justification.
Federal law enforcement officials say Abdulazeez was born in Kuwait and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. His father is from Nablus in the West Bank and his mother is from Kuwait. Residents in the quiet neighborhood where he is believed to have lived in Tennessee said they didn't know him or his family well.
According to the court documents, family members from Washington D.C. and Kuwait flew to Tennessee to help the Abdulazeez's parents resolve their differences, but Rasmia claimed Youssuf had become "more abusive" after that.
Rasmia reported she did not work and Youssuf had control of the money. She was only able to save a few dollars every week from the money her husband had given her for household expenses. She had wanted an Islamic divorce known as a "talaq" in addition to a court divorce.
Three weeks later though, the couple signed an agreement where Youssuf agreed to refrain from any personal injury against Rasmia or the kids. They also agreed to go to counseling, and if they got divorced in the future, the Youssuf agreed to give her an Islamic divorce as well.
Court records also show the suspect's sister, Diana Youssuf Abdulazeez, filed for divorce in June 2008 and sought a protective order also due to domestic violence from her husband. The court agreed that an order of protection was necessary and it was granted 10 days later.
Residents in the quiet neighborhood where Abdulazeez was believed to have lived in a two-story home said they would see him walking along the wide streets or doing yard work. One neighbor recalled Abdulazeez giving him a ride home when he became stranded in a snowstorm.
"It's kind of a general consensus from people that interacted with him that he was just your average citizen there in the neighborhood. There was no reason to suspect anything otherwise," said Ken Smith, a city councilman who met with neighbors Thursday night.
CBS News correspondent Jericka Duncan reports Abdulazeez's high school yearbook shows his senior photo, with the quote, "My name causes national security alerts. What does yours do?"
Kevin Emily, Abdulazeez's high school wrestling coach, thought of himself as a father figure to the teens on his team. He told Duncan he spent much of Thursday fielding phone calls from former students who heard the news.
"I was numb when I heard it because I heard it from one of my wrestler's parents," Emily said. "They're just like, 'Coach, can you believe it? Can you believe Muhammad did that?"'
"I don't have any bad words to say about him as an individual that wrestled for me and neither do they," Emily said. "So we're all in shock and we're all hurt."