Update: Four Dead, Including Shooter, In Attack At Pensacola Naval Base

We’re learning more details about the shooting that took place at Naval Air Station Pensacola this morning, and unfortunately the news isn’t good. The number of individuals killed in the attack has climbed to three, with authorities reporting that two of the victims were killed at the naval base itself, and another individual passed away from their injuries at a local hospital. From WEAR-TV in Pensacola:

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Authorities say the shooter was shot and killed by deputies at the base around 7:45 a.m. on Friday. The active-shooter situation was first reported at 6:51 a.m. this morning in the shooting.

No additional shooters or suspects are believed to have been involved in this incident, Sheriff David Morgan said.

The sheriff’s office says two deputies were also shot and injured. The deputies suffered non-life threatening injuries and were taken to area hospitals for treatment.

WEAR reports the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office told the press that in addition to the fatalities, there were a total of four people injured, including the two deputies mentioned above, though other news outlets are reporting the number of injured at seven.

Police say the shooting took place inside a building housing classrooms on the base. Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan says two units responded to the base when the first call came in to 911 shortly before 7 a.m. and deputies engaged the suspect. It’s unclear whether any military police units stationed on base responded to the attack, or if the sheriff’s deputies were the first law enforcement the suspect may have encountered.

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Sheriff Morgan says the investigators have learned additional details, but those details are “required to be held back” for the moment while the investigation continues.

“Walking through the crime scene was like being on the set of a movie,” the sheriff told reporters at a mid-morning press conference, saying that the tragedy strikes particularly close to home to him as a military veteran.

“These things don’t happen in Escambia County. It doesn’t happen in Pensacola. It doesn’t happen to our friends and neighbors who are members of the United States Navy. But it did, and it has,” Morgan said.

The FBI, ATF, and U.S. Attorney’s Office are all working on the investigation alongside the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, according to Morgan. who assured residents, civilian employees, and members of the military stationed at NAS Pensacola that the threat had been eliminated and that police do not believe that there are any additional suspects in the attack.

We don’t know if the suspect in this case was a member of the military or perhaps one of the thousands of civilian employees that work at the sprawling facility, which is not just home to the Navy’s Blue Angels, but is the primary flight training facility for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard aviators. Nor do we know the identities of those killed in the attack, and what, if any, relationship they might have had with the suspect.

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We’ll continue to follow the latest developments in this breaking news situation, and will have another update this afternoon here at Bearing Arms.

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