U.S. Navy sailor shoots dead two, then himself, at Pearl Harbor base
Send a link to a friend
[December 05, 2019]
By Dan Whitcomb
(Reuters) - A U.S. Navy sailor shot dead
two civilians working at Hawaii's historic military base of Pearl Harbor
on Wednesday and wounded a third before turning his gun on himself,
military officials said.
Authorities did not identify the victims or the gunman, described by a
witness as wearing a U.S. Navy uniform, but local media reported they
were all men. Base officials said the victims were civilians working for
the Department of Defense.
It was not immediately clear what the gunman's motive was for the
shooting, three days before the 78th anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941
attack on the naval base that led the United States to declare war on
Japan and enter World War Two.
The gunman died of "an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound", and the
third victim was in stable condition in hospital, military officials
told a news briefing.
"We have confirmed that two (victims) are deceased," said the regional
commander, Rear Admiral Robert Chadwick.
The gunman "has tentatively been identified as an active-duty sailor
assigned to USS Columbia SSN 771," he said.
The base, a combined U.S. Air Force and Navy installation located eight
miles (13 km) from the state capital of Honolulu, was placed on lockdown
for about two hours after the incident at about 2:30 p.m. Hawaii
Standard Time.
"We have no indication yet whether they (the victims) were targeted or
if it was a random shooting," Chadwick said.
He said he also did not know the type of weapon used by the attacker and
that bringing personal weapons on the base was not authorized.
[to top of second column]
|
Emergency services sent ambulances and firefighters to the scene,
which was secured by late Wednesday and the base reopened.
An unidentified witness told Hawaii News Now he had heard gunfire
near Drydock 2 of the base and looked up from his desk to see the
gunman, wearing an U.S. Navy uniform, put the weapon to his head and
shoot himself.
"Details are still emerging as security forces at Joint Base Pearl
Harbor-Hickam investigate," Hawaii Governor David Ige said, using
the official name of the base.
The White House had offered him assistance from federal agencies as
needed, Ige said.
A White House spokesman said: "The president has been briefed on the
shooting...and continues to monitor the situation."
Hawaii police detectives are assisting the military in an
investigation that could require up to 100 witnesses to be
interviewed, local media said.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh
in Bengaluru, Steve Gorman in Culver City, Jeff Mason in Washington,
D.C. and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Stephen Coates, Clarence
Fernandez and Timothy Heritage)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |