Marine Opens Fire On Colleague At Camp Lejeune, One Dead

Tragedy struck Camp Lejeune, North Carolina when a Marine stationed there shot and killed another of his colleague near the facility’s main gate, early Tuesday afternoon. According to the Washington Post, the shooter was taken in to custody and is being questioned by authorities. According to a report by Stars and Stripes, both the men involved in this latest incident of military violence at at Camp Lejeune were stationed near the main gate and were on duty there.

Spokesman Joshua Smith of Camp Lejeune said that the shooting happened inside a guard shack near the main gate at 5:30 p.m. local time. He went on to add that the incident is being ruled out as an isolated one while also stressing that the shooting will not be considered an act of terrorism. The Camp Lejeune shooter allegedly used an M4 rifle to attack his colleague. Primary reports say that the shooting victim died of a single gunshot wound to the chest. Soon after the shooting, immediate attempts to resuscitate the injured Marine was made. He was then quickly transported to a medical facility where he was pronounced dead. The identity of both the Marines have not been revealed as authorities are yet to inform the relatives of the deceased Marine.

Camp Lejeune officials have not revealed any further information regarding this latest incident of shooting and has only added that it is being investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

Camp Lejeune is a large 246-square-mile military facility that houses over 170,000 people. It is home to a lot of Military divisions and was built back in 1941 at the time of World War II.

This act by the marine at Camp Lejeune comes barely a week after the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas where a military truck driver open fire at his colleagues after a dispute over paperwork and killed three people before committing suicide. He had also injured 16 other people in the process. Fort Hood remained locked down for several hours after the incident. It was later revealed that the Fort Hood shooter, Ivan Lopez was treated for depression and was undergoing evaluation for post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the shooting.

It would be some days before a clearer picture emerges about this latest act of violence at Camp Lejeune.

[Image via Huffington Post]