Sailor, Civilian Suspect Killed at Naval Station Norfolk, Navy Says

A sailor was fatally shot at Naval Station Norfolk shortly before security forces killed a male suspect aboard a guided-missile destroyer late Monday night.

The suspect was a civilian who had access to be at the Norfolk station, said spokesperson Terri David. However, she couldn't say whether he had permission to be on the USS Mahan, where the shootings occurred Monday night.

Naval security forces responded to the destroyer around 11:20 p.m. for a call of shots fired. They found a sailor who had been shot, and the security forces shot a suspect, reported WAVY-TV's Deanna LeBlanc. Both men died aboard the USS Mahan.

No other injuries were reported.

The Navy said the suspect did not come on the base with weapon, but took it from the officer on watch, LeBlanc reported. The names of both men will be released once their families are notified.

Davis would not describe the circumstances of the shooting, but said the scene was secure.

The base -- the largest naval installation in the world -- was put on lockdown for about 45 minutes after the shooting as a precaution.

The case remains under investigation.

Operations on the base were returning to business Tuesday morning, but enlisted sailors on the Mahan -- which is docked on the first of 13 main piers -- were told not to report to duty Tuesday. Officers, chiefs and duty section personnel on the Mahan should still report, according to a Navy press release.

Counselors from Navy Fleet and Family Service Center are available, the Navy said.

On Tuesday, sailors gathered for a training session -- unrelated to the shooting -- and began with a moment of silence for their colleague. "We'll find out what happened, and we'll prevent that from occurring again," Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, based in Norfolk, told them. The shooting comes about a month after the Navy held anti-terrorism and force protection exercises around the world, including an active-shooter drill at Naval Station Norfolk.

To get on the base, civilians must be escorted or have a pass. Each base entrance is guarded, and all 13 piers have additional security forces. As part of ongoing security efforts, handheld ID scanners were implemented this year at Navy bases in the region, including the Norfolk station.

The incident also comes just months after the Sept. 16 mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, in which a gunman -- identified as a contractor and former Navy reservist -- killed 12 civilian workers before being shot to death.

The Norfolk base covers more than 6,000 acres and is the home port for 64 ships, according to information the Navy provided in February. About 46,000 military members and 21,000 civilian government employees and contractors are assigned to the base and its ships, according to the Navy figures.

The base also is the home port for a Navy hospital ship, docked at Pier 1 with the Mahan.

The Mahan, commissioned in 1998, has a crew of about 300. In September, it returned to Norfolk after a deployment of more than eight months that included being positioned in the eastern Mediterranean Sea for a potential strike against Syria.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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