Active Shooter Thwarted at NAS Corpus Christi

ARLINGTON, Va. – A lone gunman trying to crash security at the North Gate of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, was stopped by Naval Security Forces, the Navy said May 21.

Early reports from the base on Twitter said Naval Security Forces responded to an active shooter at approximately 6:15 a.m. local time. That notice said the said shooter “has been neutralized.”

The latest information from the Navy Office of Information said, “The shooter no longer poses a threat.” One Sailor attached to Navy Security Forces at the air station sustained minor injuries and was released from a local hospital, according to the Navy statement.

The FBI and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) are investigating with local law enforcement. FBI is the lead investigative agency.

The incident took place just three days after the Justice Department and FBI announced the Saudi gunman who killed three Sailors and wounded eight others at a NAS-Pensacola, Florida, last December had incriminating cell phone evidence linking him to an al-Qaida affiliate. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman, at a press briefing on an unrelated matter May 21, said that since the NAS-Pensacola shootings, the department had increased security at installations, but he did not know the exact measures taken at the Texas facility.

FBI officials are saying the incident at Corpus Christi was terrorism-related. Authorities previously said a shooter had been “neutralized,” but there may be a second person of interest still at large, FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Leah Greeves said during a short press briefing. The agent did not provide additional information but said the shooter is deceased.

The base, on the Gulf Coast of Texas, was on lockdown after the incident began, but the Navy said the installation was open with traffic flowing through the South Gate. The North Gate remained closed.