Shootout in Yemen linked to South Jersey man

BUENA BOROUGH - An FBI investigation into the case of an alleged al-Qaida member, accused of trying to shoot his way out of a hospital in Yemen, has shocked residents of this tiny western Atlantic County community, where the suspect was raised.

Twenty-six-year-old Sharif Mobley grew up amid the vast farm fields of this town in a newer, neatly kept Cape Cod-style house on Plymouth Road. He had apparently lived in Delaware and Philadelphia after moving away from this tight-knit community, where everyone seems to know everyone else.

"He was a nice kid, he's not someone you'd expect to do something like this," said John Formisano, who owns a farm along Plymouth Road.

Authorities in Yemen are holding Mobley, who was being treated in Republican Hospital in San'a when he got into a shootout with guards, killing one, as he attempted to escape, said Mohammed Albasha, spokesman for Yemen's embassy in Washington.

Michael Brothman of Vineland, N.J., said he graduated with Mobley from Buena Regional High School in 2002. He remembered Mobley boasting that he had a black belt in karate, being a fan of anime and being competitive in gym class. Mobley was also a member of his high school's wrestling team.

FBI spokesman Rich Wolf in Baltimore confirmed the agency is looking into Mobley, but declined to comment further.