RICHMOND, Va. -- At a few recruiting centers around the country, armed volunteers are manning the posts, protecting those who protect our freedom.
This change comes on the heels of the recent shooting rampage that killed four Marines and one sailor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The gunman was also killed.
In the Richmond metro, no sign of armed civilians can be found.
The West End office on Broad Street has clear signage with warnings.
At the center across from the Shoppes at Willow Lawn, the doors are locked to keep the public from walking through the front door to get to a recruiter.
At the recruiting center on Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield, the doors are locked and warnings are plastered everywhere.
People on the street had mixed views about armed volunteers guarding the posts.
"I think as long as they're doing it, and they're not violent about it -- and there's no disputes, they're just volunteering their own time for a greater cause,” said Antoinette. “I think that's okay.”
"It's just a little bit scary; we don't know anything about these folks,” said Linda Versluis. “They're arming themselves.”
“I feel like our military should be protecting our military,” she added. “It's a vigilante kind of thing...almost.”
CBS 6 contacted the Public Affairs Office for both branches of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corp.
They have reviewed security policies and made the necessary adjustments to their force protection conditions at all recruiting sites, but they cannot make those details public for security reasons.
Authorities are still trying to piece together why Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez killed Marines at a Navy operational center in the southeastern Tennessee city.
Authorities are still trying to piece together why Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez killed four Marines at a Navy operational center in the southeastern Tennessee city, which is thousands of miles from any war zone but unfortunately not bloodshed. Terrorism is being investigated as one possibility, especially considering that a military recruiting center was also shot at, though it was not immediately known if Abdulazeez had any connection to any known terrorist group.
Nor is it known if he had any link to the four people killed or the others wounded — one a sailor in “pretty serious condition” after surgery, according to a Pentagon official, and the other identified by a law enforcement source as responding Chattanooga police Officer Dennis Pedigo, who was shot in the ankle.
Whatever the motive, it’s clear that four families are hurting badly, as is the community at large.
“Each of these men who lost their lives had served incredibly well,” Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam told CNN on Friday morning. “We’re heartbroken.”
