VERO BEACH, Fla. – The American man who launched a suicide bombing against Syrian government troops grew up in Central Florida and attended several colleges in the state before dropping out and moving abroad.

U.S. officials identified the bomber as Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha of Florida but have said little else. Records show a person with that name lived with his family in a two-story stucco home in a gated community plunked among the orange groves on the edge of Vero Beach, the historic winter training ground for the Dodgers baseball team.

Abu-Salha was 22, according to records from one of the colleges.

Cynthia Heinz, a former member of the neighborhood homeowners association in Vero Beach, said the family had moved twice within the neighborhood since they lost their home to foreclosure a few years back. Before the family moved, they lived around the corner from Heinz. Records list the family has having previously lived in West Palm Beach and Fort Pierce.

“I used to see the mom walking around. She would accompany her youngest son when he went out to play,” she said. “She was always very sweet”

Heinz told The Associated Press she rarely saw Moner Abu-Salha or his older brother, who were already teenagers by then.

She said Michelle Abu-Salha, the mother who dressed conservatively in a traditional Hijab over her hair, was always friendly, as was her teenage daughter, who went to school with Heinz’s son. Heinz said she had less contact with Abu-Salha’s father.