Naval Base Guam is home to Submarine Squadron 15, Coast Guard Sector Guam, Naval Special Warfare Unit One and other tenant commands. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
A driver fleeing a traffic stop on Naval Base Guam caused base security officers to stop all traffic at the main gate for nearly three hours Monday.
The stop was made around 9 a.m. at the intersection of Chapel Road on Naval Base Guam, about 1.5 miles from the installation’s main entrance.
The driver fled, but security stopped and detained that person near the gate. The entrance was subsequently closed from about 9:30 a.m. to 12:25 p.m., according to several posts on the base’s official Facebook page.
No injuries were reported and the driver was not identified.
Amid the closure, erroneous reports of an active shooter circulated on base, according to one of the Facebook posts.
“There is NO active shooter situation and the base is NOT on lockdown,” the base wrote around 10:30 a.m., about an hour after the initial post.
Base spokeswoman Theresa Cepeda provided the same information posted on Facebook without identifying the driver held by security, why that person was stopped or where the active-shooter report originated. She did not immediately return several phone and email requests for further information Monday.
The episode marked at least the second time an incident closed the front gate of a military base on Guam since last month.
A man driving a stolen bus struck a barrier outside Andersen Air Force Base’s front gate on March 14, resulting in traffic delays, according to Brig. Gen. Thomas Palenske.
“A man (not affiliated with Andersen AFB) allegedly stole this bus and hit one of our barriers at the gate turning it into a crime scene for about an hour,” Palenske, commander of the 36th Wing, wrote on Facebook that day. “Something different every day at Andersen AFB! ‘Murica!”
The post included a video of the incident, which showed police chasing what appeared to be a yellow school bus to Andersen’s front gate.
Guam police identified the driver as Jesse Sablan Basaliso and said he attempted to enter Andersen following a police pursuit that began in the village of Dededo about five miles away, Guam Police Department spokeswoman Officer Berlyn Savella said by phone March 15.
Basaliso later pleaded not guilty to charges of theft of a motor vehicle, eluding a police officer and criminal mischief, The Guam Daily Post reported March 28.
