Three different attacks on three Navy facilities over the last six days have left seven people dead and at least 11 wounded.
The most recent attack took place on Friday morning at Naval Air Station Pensacola, in Florida, where a gunman opened fire on a classroom killing three and injuring at least 10. Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies responding to the attack shot and killed the shooter.
While the shooter’s identity remains unknown, he is believed to have been a Saudi Arabian aviation student. Authorities are investigating whether there is a terrorism connection.
More than 16,000 military personnel and 7,400 civilians are employed at the facility. Known as the “cradle of Naval aviation,” it is usually the first stop for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard aviator trainees, though foreign partners are also known to send trainees there.
“I want to assure our community that the threat has been negated. Our community is secure at this time, we have no reason to believe or are we looking for any additional shooters within Escambia County, not just within the parameters of NAS Pensacola,” Sheriff David Morgan said in a press conference.
Two deputies were wounded in the attack but are expected to recover, the sheriff added.
Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Megan Isaac told the Washington Examiner that the base remained on lockdown as of Friday morning.
“Multiple injured personnel have been transported to local hospitals,” Isaac said. “We will continue to work closely with law enforcement agencies.”
On Wednesday, a 22-year-old sailor identified as “G. Romero” killed two civilian Department of Defense employees and injured a third at the Pearl Harbor shipyard in Hawaii. He was assigned to the USS Columbia, which is undergoing repairs at the facility and his motivation remains unknown.
Pearl Harbor shipyard commander Capt. Greg Burton extended his condolences to the families of the victims. “I know that no words will convey the full measure of sorrow from today’s tragedy,” he said. “Looking ahead, we will honor the life and legacy of those lost.”
Nathaniel Lee Campbell, 38, killed Petty Officer 3rd Class Oscar Jesus Temores, 23, on Saturday after speeding through a gate at Virginia Beach’s Joint Expeditionary Base Fort Story. Both men were taken to a local hospital where Temores died of his wounds after Campbell drove his 2004 Chevrolet pickup truck into oncoming traffic, hitting Temores’ vehicle. Campbell has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Military facilities previously have been targeted by shooters. In 2013, Navy veteran Aaron Alexis killed 12 people and injured three in a mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., before police shot and killed him at the scene.
In 2009, Army Maj. Nidal Hasan killed 13 and injured 32 at Fort Hood, Texas, in what is to date the deadliest shooting at a military facility. Hasan later was found to have corresponded via email with Anwar al Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric. A Senate report released in 2011 referred to the shooting as “the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.”
