Shooter Drill @ Lackland AFB Turned Live (Richmond Peace)
KENS-TV, San Antonio, and Stephen Losey and Oriana Pawlyk, Air Force Times 11:45 p.m. EDT April 8, 2016
Authorities are investigating a shooting that left 2 people dead at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. VPC
Law enforcement and firefighters responded to reports of an active shooter at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.(Photo: KENS-TV, San Antonio)
SAN ANTONIO Two people are dead in an apparent murder-suicideafter a shooting Fridayat Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, the Bexar County Sheriff"s Office said.
The base was under a complete lockdown after reports of an active shooter around 8:30 a.m. CT.
Less than three hours later, the sheriff"s office said the situation was contained and that the shooter is no longer active.
In a news conference at the base,Brig. Gen. Bob LaBrutta, the commander of the 502nd Air Base Wing and Joint Base San Antonio, said two men were found dead in an office on the first floor of building 147 of the Medina Annex, a classroom facility known as Forbes Hall. Two Glock weapons were found at the scene.
He stressed that the shooting was not an act of terrorismand declined to identify the two men, saying their families must be notified first. The Air Force"s Office of Special Investigations is leading the investigation, and the FBI is assisting.
"Right now it does appear to be a murder-suicide situation," said James Keith, spokesman for the Bexar County Sheriff"s Office.
Authorities did not release a motive.
"This morning we received one of those calls you never want to receive," LaBrutta said. "The response to this tragic event was overwhelming and was absolutely outstanding. We got to the facility in question in 3 minutes."
Only law enforcement such as security forces and Office of Special Investigations agents are allowed to carry weapons on base, he said. The investigation will look at how the weapons were brought into the facility.
Allowing everyone to carry personal firearms would make the job of our security professionals much more difficult, saidDan Hawkins, a spokesman for the base. Security officers must be notified if a personal weapon is being brought onto the installation and the firearm must be registered, in addition to other requirements.
Lackland AFB is part of Joint Base San Antonio. The base is an entry processing point for Air Force enlisted basic training.
Lackland had a basic military training graduation event scheduled for Friday, the Air Force said in a tweet before the news broke of the shooter.
Friday"s shooting is the latest to occur at a military facility in Texas in the past several years.
In January 2015, an Army veteran and former clerk at the veterans" clinic at Fort Bliss in El Paso shot and killed a psychologist, then committed suicide.
About a year earlier, three soldiers were killed and 16 wounded in an attack at Fort Hood near Killeen by Army Spc. Ivan A. Lopez, who also killed himself.
And in 2009 in the deadliest attack to occur at a U.S. military installation, 13 people were killed and 31 were wounded in a mass shooting at Fort Hood. Nidal Hasan, a former U.S. Army major, was convicted and sentenced to death in that shooting.
Contributing: Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY; Phillip Swarts,Air Force Times; David Larter, Navy Times;The Associated Press
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Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/04/08/sheriff-2-dead-shooting-lackland-afb-texas/82786910/
