In a lengthy interview with the police, Mr. Muhammad said he was angry about the killing of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, Chief Thomas said. Previously known as Carlos Bledsoe, Mr. Muhammad told investigators that he had converted to Islam as a teenager, Chief Thomas said.

Chief Thomas said investigators believe that Mr. Muhammad acted alone. He seemed to be familiar with the Army recruiting office because it was not far from his home, the chief said, but might have been on the prowl for anyone in uniform.

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“I would say he was looking for any and all targets of opportunity that happened to be military,” the chief said in a telephone interview. “That may have well been the first place he found.”

Mr. Muhammad will be charged with one count of capital murder and 15 counts of terroristic acts, one for each person who was hit or endangered by the shots he fired. Thirteen people were in the recruiting office at the time.

Chief Thomas said Mr. Muhammad had previously lived in Memphis and Nashville and moved to Little Rock just a few months ago, possibly to work at his parents’ tour company.

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At Mr. Muhammad’s apartment complex in west Little Rock, a collection of low-rise buildings known as Bristol Park, residents said they were evacuated for four hours on Monday while the police searched Mr. Muhammad’s apartment.

Though many at the apartment complex said they did not know him, two people, who declined to give their names, said Mr. Muhammad often wore a uniform, possibly for work.

A witness to the shooting, Lance P. Luplow, said he was parking his car in front of his house across the street from the recruiting office when he heard about seven loud bangs and looked up to see the black truck with tinted windows speeding away, its tailgate down and bottles of water rolling from the flatbed into the street.

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Mr. Luplow, 26, said he ran across the street to the recruiting station, where he saw one soldier in fatigues lying still in a pool of blood, while a second one was crawling into the station, holding a bloodied ear.

“He was saying, ‘Tell me this isn’t real, tell me this isn’t real,’ ” Mr. Luplow said.

He said other soldiers from the station had tried to stop the bleeding and performed CPR on the victims before ambulances arrived.

Army recruiting officials said they could not recall any recent fatal attacks on Army recruiting offices. But bomb threats and vandalism against recruiting offices are not uncommon. Last year, a small bomb shattered the glass facade of the military recruiting station in Times Square.