This isn’t exactly filling me with confidence about our base security procedures.

A civilian who had credentials to enter Naval Station Norfolk but who lacked the proper credentials to get on-board the docked Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mahan (DDG-72) somehow did so anyway, and killed a sailor before being killed by responding security forces.

A sailor and a civilian suspect are dead following a shooting at Naval Station Norfolk Monday night.

The shooting happened around 11:20pm at Pier 1 onboard the USS Mahan.

No other injuries have been reported.

Naval Station Norfolk was put on lockdown for 45 minutes.

The lockdown was lifted after the suspect was killed by Naval security forces. Both the suspect and the sailor are men.

The Mahan has a crew of 30 officers and 250 enlisted sailors.

Presumably, sailors on board the ship were unarmed, just as their counterparts were at the Washington Navy Yard where Aaron Alexis went on his killing spree with a simple pump shotgun, and at Fort Hood, where Nidal Hasan was able to carry out a terrorist attack with a pistol.

If politicians are going to continue to disarm service members on-base, they have a responsibility to provide adequate security. It seems rather obvious that if this civilian was able to get on board one of our destroyers without encountering security on the pier, then that security is sorely lacking.

Update: The sailor who was killed was shot with a gun taken from a Petty Officer on watch during a struggle.

According to the Navy, the civilian suspect approached the quarterdeck of USS Mahan where he was confronted by ship security personnel.  A scuffle ensued after security forces wouldn’t let him get past the entrance to the ship. During the scuffle, the man grabbed a gun from the Petty Officer on watch and shot a sailor that was responding to the security breach. Naval security forces then killed the suspect. The suspect was not armed with his own gun, officials say.