A shooting at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas early on Thursday was “terrorism-related,” the FBI has confirmed. While the suspect is dead, another “person of interest” is believed to be at large.
During a press conference on their investigation into the shooting, which injured one Navy service member, the FBI said the incident was terrorism-related. While the suspect was “neutralized” during a gun battle with Navy Security Forces, authorities are investigating the possibility that a second person involved in the shooting is on the loose.
The incident unfolded at approximately 6:15am local time near one of the entrance gates to the air station, according to Corpus Christi police. The facility went into lockdown after the alarm was raised about an active shooter, with base officials sending alerts warning that “if you are in or near the North Gate get out and away to safety. Execute lockdown procedures – remain indoors and away from windows.”
An anonymous US official reportedly told USNI news the shooter was an “Arab male” who “stormed a gate at the base,” though those details have not been officially confirmed.
The shooting took place just a few days after US Attorney General William Barr announced the Saudi shooter who killed three US service members at Naval Air Station Pensacola in December was connected to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to the point that he was “sharing plans and tactics” and even “coordinating” with the terrorist group.
The Corpus Christi base was locked down briefly in December after an armed man was reported on base and taken into custody. The previous month, a man who crashed a stolen vehicle into a barricade at a checkpoint near the base’s South Gate in February pleaded guilty to destruction of government property and possession of a stolen firearm.
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