Officials are searching for a motive in the Pearl Harbor shooting that left two civilian employees dead and a third injured before the gunman took his own life.
The shooter has only been identified as an active-duty US sailor whose submarine was docked at the shipyard near Honolulu.
Rear Adm. Robert Chadwick, commander of Navy Region Hawaii, said he didn’t know the motive behind the shooting Wednesday.
“We have no indication yet whether they were targeted or if it was a random shooting,” Chadwick said.
Gunfire broke out around 2:30 p.m. at the base, which hosts both the Navy and Air Force, and three days before the 78th anniversary of the 1941 Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that left more than 2,400 US service members dead.
The sailor was assigned to the fast attack submarine USS Columbia, which is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for maintenance.
Security forces attend to an unidentified male outside the main gate at Pearl Harbor.APIt wasn’t immediately known what type of weapon was used or how many shots were fired. Chadwick said personal weapons are not allowed on base.
The victims will not be identified until next of kin is notified. The surviving victim is at a hospital in stable condition, Chadwick said Wednesday night.
The Pearl Harbor shipyard repairs, maintains and modernizes the ships and submarines of the US Pacific Fleet. The base is the home port for 10 destroyers and 15 submarines.
With Post wires
The USS Arizona MemorialAP