A U.S. Navy sailor opened fire at a naval shipyard at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii on Wednesday, killing two civilian shipyard employees and wounding another before dying from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, said U.S. Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Robert Chadwick. A third civilian employee was also shot and is being treated at a local hospital.
The shooter was an active-duty sailor assigned to the USS Columbia, Chadwick said. It was unclear what type of gun was used or whether the attack was targeted.
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam said the situation began at 2:30 p.m. local time, and the base went on lockdown. The lockdown was lifted around 4 p.m.
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The names of the victims are being withheld pending family notification, the base said.
One witness told CBS Honolulu affiliate KGMB that he was at his desk when he heard loud pops.
“I kind of recognize that as gunshots,” he said. “I looked out the window, saw three people on the ground. I looked out in time to see the shooter … shoot himself.”
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam is a combined U.S. Navy and Air Force base located about 8 miles from Honolulu. The shipyard is across the harbor from the National Pearl Harbor Memorial, where the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the base will be marked on Saturday.
