US appeals court allows families to sue Saudi Arabia over naval air station massacre

The three-judge panel affirmed most of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida’s decision to throw out the case for lack of jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act. The three judges identified one exception. “One group, or bundle, of the plaintiffs’ claims—those based on the theory that the kingdom had been grossly negligent in vetting, hiring and sending airman al-Shamrani to the United States. Mohammed Saeed al-Shamrani was a second lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force who came to the United States in 2017 to take part in a Pentagon-sponsored pilot training program for foreign nationals. In 2019, he shot 11 people at Naval Air Station Pensacola, killing three, before police shot and killed him (Read more at JNS).