Approximately 175 Saudi Arabian military aviation students have been grounded as part of an “operational pause” after a Saudi military member shot and killed three people last week at a Naval air station in Pensacola, Fla., according to multiple reports.
“A safety stand-down and operational pause commenced Monday for Saudi Arabian aviation students,” Navy spokeswoman Lt. Andriana Genualdi told Reuters.
The Hill has reached out to the Navy for comment.
The grounding reportedly affects three naval bases in Florida: Naval Air Station Pensacola, Naval Air Station Whiting Field and Naval Air Station Mayport.
Genualdi didn’t tell Reuters when Saudi students would return to flying, but she did say that classroom instruction for them would resume soon and that students from other foreign countries had begun flying again.
While the FBI thinks the suspected gunman, 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, acted alone in the attack, the shooting has raised questions about the U.S. military’s relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Currently, there are around 850 Saudi military students in the country for training.
Since the shooting, U.S. lawmakers have called for a review of the vetting process for allowing foreign military personnel to train in the country.
“I’m extremely concerned by the reports that this shooter was a foreign national training on a U.S. military base in Florida,” Sen. Rick Scott said in a statement Friday. ” I’m calling for a full review of the U.S. military programs to train foreign nationals on American soil.”
Updated: 4:30 p.m.
