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One sailor is dead and another hospitalized in a domestic shooting early Friday morning in a parking lot at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia, Navy officials said.
A male sailor shot a female sailor with a handgun several times at about 6:45 a.m. in the parking lot of Strike Fighter Squadron 37, Hangar 145 of the Virginia Beach base, according to Navy officials. Security responded to the shooting and fatally shot the male sailor.
The female sailor was transported to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital with multiple non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, according to a news release from Navy Mid-Atlantic Region. The sailors were members of the Strike Fighter Squadron 37.
The incident ended within five minutes, said Capt. Chad Vincelette, commander of NAS Oceana.
The shooting forced the base to temporarily lockdown, which was lifted at 7:40 a.m. and the base resumed normal operations. Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating this incident.
The base has a no weapons policy and how the sailor was able to get a weapon on base is part of the investigation, Vincelette said. Security on base “regularly conducts random and periodic inspections for prohibited items.”
Aside from base security, the city of Virginia Beach police, fire department and emergency crews responded to the incident.
“I would like to thank these agencies and my team for resolving the situation quickly and professionally,” Vincelette said.
NAS Oceana is the Navy’s East Coast master jet base and houses F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets, according to the base website. The base, including Dam Neck Annex, has about 10,500 active Navy personnel, about 10,000 family members and 4,500 civilian personnel.
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