Four people were killed and multiple others were injured in a shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola early Friday morning.
The U.S. Navy confirmed that the gunman and two other people were killed in the mass shooting, which took place in one of the base’s classrooms. Eight people were transported to the hospital where an additional victim died.
Dispatchers received the first call reporting gunfire at 6:51 a.m.
Area hospitals received eight victims from the shooting, one of whom later died.
Two of those wounded in the shooting were deputies who had engaged the shooter. They both suffered non life-threatening injuries after one was shot in the arm and another in the knee. The gunman was killed shortly before 8 a.m. by other responding law enforcement officers.
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said at a press conference that there is no longer a threat and no other suspects are thought to have been involved.
“The threat has been negated, our community is secure,” Morgan said.
The sheriff said walking through the crime scene was “like being on a movie set.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was receiving updates on the situation.
“We are actively monitoring the shooting that occurred this morning at Naval Air Station Pensacola,” he said.
We are actively monitoring the shooting that occurred this morning at Naval Air Station Pensacola. We are receiving updates from @fdlepio Commissioner Swearingen and offering our full support to law enforcement.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) December 6, 2019
“Both gates of NASP are currently secured due to reports of an active shooter,” the station’s Facebook page said. The base will be closed all day in the wake of the shooting.
President Trump is monitoring the situation. He said in a tweet that he received a full briefing on the shooting and has spoken with DeSantis.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult time. We are continuing to monitor the situation as the investigation is ongoing,” he said.
Just received a full briefing on the tragic shooting at NAS Pensacola in Florida, and spoke to @GovRonDeSantis. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult time. We are continuing to monitor the situation as the investigation is ongoing.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2019
Speaking at the White House Friday afternoon Trump also briefly noted the call from King Salman.
Trump said the king told him that “the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter and that this person in no way, shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people, who love the American people so much.”
Trump didn’t offer any further details on the motive or the suspect but said that investigators are “getting to the bottom of it.”
There was a massive law enforcement response at the base including local law enforcement and agents from Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives.
“There’s probably been 100 or so various law enforcement vehicles zooming down the wrong side on Navy Boulevard,” Escambia County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh told the Pensacola News Journal. “There’s been ambulances, fire trucks. It’s my understanding there’s multiple causalities.”
NAS Pensacola has more than 23,000 military and civilian employees. It is one of the county’s oldest stations and home to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team.
The news comes just days after a Navy sailor shot and killed two men and wounded another before shooting himself. That shooting occurred at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii on Wednesday.
#UPDATE: A second victim has been confirmed deceased.
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) December 6, 2019
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed an active shooter at NAS Pensacola. Here at Baptist Hospital I just saw a US Navy ambulance arrive. @weartv pic.twitter.com/hBrqdFXpXV
— Jennifer Munoz (@JennifermunozTV) December 6, 2019
