Another Shooting At Military Base, This Time In NC

Less than a week after a soldier went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, killing three others and then himself, a marine has opened fire at a North Carolina base, shooting and fatally wounding a colleague. The shooter was immediately taken into custody to await questioning by Naval Criminal Investigative Services. According to spokesman Nat Fahy, the incident at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville occurred at around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

The marine was standing guard at the main gate of the base when he shot and killed his colleague, another marine guard, inside a guard shack with an M4 rifle. Fahy said that law enforcement and emergency personnel at the base attempted to revive the wounded marine, but the victim was later pronounced dead at a base hospital. The name of the shooter has not yet been released, and the name of the victim will be withheld until relatives have been notified.

A news release from the base said that the shooting was an isolated incident, that there was no active gunman on the loose, and that this was not an act of terrorism. Fahy said the base was not on lockdown at any point.

Fahy described the shack as around 15 feet by 15 feet and sitting under a canopy. He said that he was unsure whether there were others in the shack at the time of the shooting.

According to Fahy the main gates of the camp remained open after the incident, but authorities isolated the area and only allowed traffic to pass on and off the base once it was confirmed the area was secure.