The gate at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., is shown in this undated file photo. (U.S. Air Force)
The airman killed in a shooting just outside a gate to Kirtland Air Force Base early Saturday had fled from an “attempted detention” by base security forces before he was shot, officials at the New Mexico base said.
Airman Biron Teel-Scott, 27, of Bordentown, N.J., was identified Sunday as the airmen killed in the incident at about 2 a.m. local time at Kirtland. Teel-Scott was assigned to Kirtland’s 377th Security Forces Squadron at the time of his death, officials said. They released no additional details about Teel-Scott or his military service.
Kirtland officials previously said an airman had been killed in a shooting after “an off-base pursuit” near the base’s Truman gate. They described the incident as isolated and said Saturday that authorities were not searching for suspects.
Another security forces airman was injured in the incident, officials said. That airman sustained a gunshot wound to the hand and was released Saturday from a hospital. Kirtland officials did not identify the injured airman.
The incident remained under investigation Monday by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the FBI and the Albuquerque Police Department, according to a Kirtland statement.
Air Force Col. Michael Power, the commander of Kirtland and its 377th Air Base Wing, said officials were working at the installation to provide support and care for those impacted by the incident.
“Losing a member of your team is never easy, but the circumstances of this incident make it that much harder,” Power said.
Kirtland Air Force Base is just outside Albuquerque and hosts about 20,000 troops and civilian workers. In addition to the 377th Air Base Wing, Kirtland houses several other units including the 58th and 150th Special Operations Wings, the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center and the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, a headquarters that oversees the service’s various nuclear weapons operations.
