Pearl Harbor Shooting: US Sailor Commits Suicide After Killing Two Civilians

A U.S. sailor open fired on three civilian workers at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on Wednesday, December 4. The gunman shot to death two of the victims and injured the third before killing himself.

As of the latest press conference, two of the shooting victims were confirmed dead while the third has been brought to the hospital, according to Time. All three victims are civilian employees of the Department of Defense.

“We have confirmed that two are deceased, one is in stable condition in a local hospital,” commander for the U.S. Navy in Hawaii Rear Admiral Robb Chadwick announced.

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham officials said that investigators are still trying to work out the events leading up to the shooting in the naval shipyard, the Guardian reported. The names of the victims are still being withheld until their kin are notified.

Investigators have not yet released the shooter’s identity or any potential motive he might have. What is known at the moment is that he is a crew of the submarine USS Columbia currently docked at Pearl Harbor, according to StarTribune. The publication added that the fast attack submarine is currently undergoing maintenance at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam facility.

It is also unclear at the moment if the shooter specifically targeted the three victims or just randomly attacked the workers in the shipyard. Investigators have not yet commented on whether the shooter is related to any of his victims as well as the type of weapon used in the attack.

The incident happened just three days before the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. As a result of the incident, the location was briefly placed on lockdown starting 2:30 p.m.

“As a precaution the gates were secured, but they have now been opened,” Navy Region Hawaii Public Affair’s Jim Neuman explained.

Meanwhile, Cedric Yamanaka, a spokesperson for the Queen’s Medical Center spokesperson, confirmed that their facility received one of the victims for treatment. However, Yamanaka declined to comment on the patient’s current condition.

The National Park Service and the U.S. Navy will hold an event on Saturday, December 7, 2019, to mark the 78^th anniversary of the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack by Japanese Imperial forces. More than 2,300 died in the surprise attack, which triggered the U.S. to declare war on Japan.