ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. – A shooter who opened fire Friday morning at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, leaving three people dead and several injured, has died, officials say.
“The ECSO can confirm there is no longer an active shooter on NAS Pensacola,” the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook account. “The shooter is confirmed dead.”
The Navy later tweeted that a “second victim has been confirmed deceased” and an “unknown number of injured people being transferred to local hospitals.”
Maj. Andrew Hobbs with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said two deputies were shot while confronting the active shooter suspect on Friday morning.
The deputies were transported to local hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.
Additional ECSO deputies engaged the active shooter and shot and killed him, according to Chief Deputy Chip Simmons
Further details about the incident were not immediately available, but officials are expected to provide an update.
The Baptist Hospital told the Pensacola News Journal that it has accepted five patients related to the shooting and the Sacred Heart Hospital says it is anticipating three.
“Both gates of NASP are currently secured due to reports of an active shooter,” the base posted earlier on its Facebook account.
A spokesman for the base also told the Pensacola News Journal that the incident was first reported around 7 a.m. Friday.
At 7:48 a.m., police confirmed that the shooter was dead.
NAS Pensacola is on lockdown right now because of a reported active shooter on the base. Authorities say please stay away.
This video is from a listener who saw police passing him on the highway. pic.twitter.com/GiW7tKsjso
— Andrew McKay (@andrewmckay1620) December 6, 2019
Jeff Bergosh, an Escambia County commissioner who works at NAS Pensacola as a civilian contractor, told the Pensacola News Journal that he saw ambulances and fire trucks racing toward the base while he waiting in line to enter at one of its gates.
“There’s probably been 100 or so various law enforcement vehicles zooming down the wrong side on Navy Boulevard,” he said, adding that he received a call from co-workers on base who reported being on lockdown.
The incident comes days after a sailor fatally shot two people and injured a third before turning a pistol on himself at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.
NAS Pensacola employs more than 16,000 military and 7,400 civilian personnel, according to its website. One of the Navy’s most historic and storied bases, it sprawls along the waterfront southwest of downtown Pensacola and dominates the economy of the surrounding area.
It’s home to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team, and includes the National Naval Aviation Museum, a popular regional tourist attraction.
———
UPDATE:
The gunman who opened fire Friday morning at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, fatally shooting three people, has been identified as an aviation student from Saudi Arabia as investigators are looking into whether the attack is terrorism-related.
The shooter — who was wielding a handgun, despite firearms not being allowed on base — was confronted and taken out by a pair of responding officers, officials say. Two people were killed at the scene while a third victim died after being rushed to a local hospital. Seven others suffered injuries and are undergoing treatment, including the two officers, one of whom was shot in the arm and the other in the knee. Both are expected to survive.
“The government of Saudi Arabia needs to make things better for these victims,” Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who says he has spoken to President Trump about the shooting, told reporters during a press conference Friday afternoon. “They are going to owe a debt here given that this is one of their individuals.”
“Anyone who serves in the Navy knows that this is a special place, Naval Air Station Pensacola,” DeSantis added. “All these brave warriors who wear the wings, they come through here for flight training. And so this is a dark day for a very great place.”
Read more on the Fox News story here.
