Two people are confirmed dead after a shooting on board the USS Mahan at Naval Station Norfolk. According to police, Monday nights incident involved a sailor and a civilian. VPC Carl Leimer and Mike Gooding, WVEC-TV, Hampton Roads, Va. 12:27 p.m. EDT March 25, 2014 (Photo: Ed Bailey, AP) SHARE 2312 CONNECT 167 TWEET 106 COMMENT EMAIL MORE NORFOLK, Va. — A civilian who boarded a guided-missile destroyer at the worlds largest naval base disarmed a guard and killed a sailor, the Navy said Tuesday. The man also was killed after he fatally shot the sailor who came to the aid of the petty officer on watch, the Navy said. The incident occurred at about 11:20 p.m. ET Monday at Pier 1 aboard USS Mahan, base spokeswoman Terri Davis said. She didnt know whether the suspect had permission to be on board but he was authorized to be on base. The civilian suspect approached the destroyers quarterdeck, and the ships security personnel confronted him, Navy officials say. A struggle occurred, and the suspect was able to disarm the petty officer of the watch. The suspect, who previously was unarmed, used the weapon to kill a sailor who came to the aid of the guard. He was killed; no other injuries were reported. Well find out what happened, and well prevent that from occurring again, - Well find out what happened, and well prevent that from occurring again, Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command based in Norfolk, said to a group of sailors gathered for a training session unrelated to the shooting. Counselors from Navy Fleet and Family Service Center are on hand to assist personnel. The identities of the suspect and sailor will not be released until their families are notified, Davis said. The investigation has just begun, and right now there is a great deal of information we dont know just yet, said Capt. Robert Clark, Naval Station Norfolks commanding officer. The base was briefly put on lockdown for about 45 minutes as a precaution. With the exception of Pier 1, the first of 13 main piers, operations have returned to normal at Naval Station Norfolk, Davis said. The Mahan, commissioned in 1998, has a crew of nearly 300. In September, it returned to Norfolk after a deployment of more than eight months that included being positioned in the eastern Mediterranean for a potential strike against Syria. To get on the Naval base, civilians must be escorted or have identification that allows them to be there. Authorized civilians can include Department of Defense employees, contractors and military family members. Davis would not elaborate on how the suspect was authorized to get on base.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 17:24:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015