Two people killed at Lackland AFB in Texas, murder-suicide suspected
Two people have been found dead at the Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas, in what appeared to be a murder-suicide, according to Bexar County Sheriff’s department.
Deputies have found two victims, Bexar County Sheriff's Department spokesman James Keith told reporters. They believe that the shooter is one of the victims.
The Air Force Times reports the victim at Medina annex was a squadron commander who was shot by an Airman...quotes a Pentagon official
— 1200 WOAI (@1200WOAI) April 8, 2016
“It does appear to be a murder-suicide situation,” Keith said. “We do believe that the shooter is accounted for.”
The shooting was "not an act of terrorism," the FBI said at a news conference at 11 a.m. local time Friday. Officials said that two weapons were found at the scene. The military is withholding the names of the victims until their next of kin are notified.
DETAILS: Suspected murder-suicide at #LacklandAFB believed to have been in Medina Annex https://t.co/dWP5mPU4lopic.twitter.com/gnGLfh8fNE
— RT America (@RT_America) April 8, 2016
Our deputies are inside Lackland AFB clearing buildings now pic.twitter.com/BGwowOBXYF
— Bexar County Sheriff (@BexarCoSheriff) April 8, 2016
Law enforcement searched the building, trying to gain access to several locked rooms and check if there were any further victims.
“We don’t believe the shooter is still active,” Keith said.
UPDATE: A 2nd person confirmed dead at #LacklandAFB - Bexar Co. Sheriff https://t.co/dWP5mPU4lopic.twitter.com/fx87VzTxjJ
— RT America (@RT_America) April 8, 2016
Though Keith would not confirm which building was the crime scene, reports from the base indicated the shooting happened at the Medina Annex, the western portion of the main base.
Police, FBI and military investigators are focusing on Forbes Hall, local media reported.
Report of shooting at Joint Base San Antonio-#Lackland came from Medina Training Annex, west of main part of base an city of San Antonio.
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) April 8, 2016
The Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland confirmed a “real world active shooter situation” in a statement on Friday morning, but said “there have been no injuries confirmed at this time.”
“All schools and child development centers are currently locked down,” the statement said.
Texas DPS has a white van stopped in the area that's suspected of being involved with the incident @ Lackland AFB
— John Roberts DSCAN (@DetroitScanner) Apr 08 2016
Lockdown orders were lifted at the base, as well as the Allen Elementary and Rayburn Middle schools, around 10:20 a.m. local time. Valley High Elementary school nearest to the base remained on lockdown, however.
The initial police report of a shooting came in at 8:45 local time – 9:45 a.m. Eastern time. Around 8 a.m. the base hosted a graduation parade of the Air Force’s basic military training class.
Watch today's #BMT graduation live from Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland here: https://t.co/LyAhbiEYpu. @37thTRW#AirForce
— U.S. Air Force (@usairforce) April 8, 2016
The Lackland AFB graduation is not near to the shooting on the Medina Base Annex (via @JT_Gerlach) #SATX
— Sergio Chapa (@SergioChapa) April 8, 2016
As one USAF Security Forces member explained on Twitter, Medina Annex is where the Security Forces, targeting specialists and foreign nationals train, and it is on the other side of the base from where the Basic Military Training takes place.
@TheBigPellowski There’s Lackland - Main base BMT all that crap, then Medina like 20 minutes away were Security Forces, TACP, & Foreign trn
— Ben (@NickbucXP) April 8, 2016
ACTIVE SHOOTER ALERT (REAL WORLD): There is a real world active shooter situation at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland...
Posted by Joint Base San Antonio on Friday, 8 April 2016
The Joint Base San Antonio was created in 2010 by the merger of US Army Fort Sam Houston, and USAF bases Randolph and Lackland. The facility is operated by the USAF 502nd Air Base Wing, part of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC).
The base is approximately 7,000 acres in size, with about 9,000 personnel present at any given time.