A U.S. Navy sailor shot and killed two civilian Department of Defense employees and wounded a third before turning his gun on himself, according to military officials.
NBC News reports that the shooting occurred at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii at approximately 2:30 pm local time. In the aftermath of the shooting, the base was put on lockdown but the scene has since been secured.
The shipyard, which is located about 1½ miles away from the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, “maintains and modernizes the ships and submarines of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which is headquartered at Pearl Harbor” according to NBC. There are 10 destroyers and 15 submarines housed at the base.
Rear Admiral Robert Chadwick told NBC News the gunman was an active-duty sailor who was assigned to the USS Columbia, and at the time of the shooting, the submarine was dry-docked at the base for maintenance.
Chadwick also confirmed that the civilian who was wounded is in guarded condition, and of the three people who were shot, all of them were male shipyard workers.
“We have no indication yet whether they were targeted or if it was a random shooting,” Chadwick told NBC News.
The identities of the gunman and the victims will not be released until next of kin are notified. Chadwick is unsure of what type of gun was used, but said personal weapons are prohibited on the base.
“I join in solidarity with the people of Hawai’i as we express our heartbreak over this tragedy and concern for those affected by the shooting,” Hawaii Gov. David Ige tweeted.
“We share in the sorrow of today’s tragic shooting at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and are thankful for the actions of our federal and state partners, as well as the city’s first responders who rushed to the scene,” Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said in a statement.
Saturday marks the 78th anniversary of the infamous 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which left more than 2,400 military and civilian casualties and served as a catalyst for U.S. involvement in World War II. It’s unknown if the shooting is in any way related, but the Navy and base security are investigating the incident.
“Obviously our thoughts are with the families of the victims and everyone involved,” Chadwick told reporters during a news conference.
DISCUSSION
This sucks and is particularly disturbing because submariners have to go through an extensive battery of psychological testing in order to be deployed.
Our armed forces are broken. Multiple deployments and the fetishistic worship of hardware and militarism has triumphed over the duty of all citizens serving their country. Poor and working class children should not have to join a professional military for their livelihood and education. The richest nation in the history of the world should be easily able to provide these necessities.
The nonsense of traitor Trump pardoning war criminals will only lead to further breakdowns in morale, discipline and unit cohesion. Bring back the draft and get all citizens involved in our defense. It’s too late for cadet bonespurs and most of his worthless brood but baron Barron can certainly swab heads and peel potatoes in a few years as easily as some poor kid from West Virginia.