Fort Lee Shooting Update: Soldier Shoots Self in US Army Base, Was Reportedly 'Upset,' 'Enraged' and 'Irate'
On Monday, a Fort Lee soldier died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, after going on a rampage that caused the U.S. Army post to enter lockdown amid reports of an "active shooter."
According to Maj. Gen. Stephen Lyons, the post commander, the female soldier was a sergeant first-class who had been in the Army for 14 years, The Washington Post reports. Her name has not yet been released. She was pronounced dead at Richmond's Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.
"We're going to keep her in our prayers," Lyons told reporters before the soldier died. "She's a soldier. She's one of our teammates,"
A statement reports that at around 8:45 a.m. the soldier entered Fort Lee carrying a weapon and locked herself inside of an office. According to The Washington Post, the soldier was carrying a non-service small-caliber handgun. The base was then put on lockdown.
While negotiations were taking place, the solider shot herself. No one else was hurt.
"They thought that they had achieved a calm level of negotiations only to find out that that was not the case," Lyons said.
At around 9:50 a.m., an all clear was given.
U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command special agents are investigating.
"Fort Lee officials take this incident very seriously and are fully cooperating with the investigation," the statement said.
The late soldier was "upset and enraged," Lyons told The Washington Post. Further information on her mental health and history has not been disclosed, but on Monday, she was in a "bit of a rampage" and showed "irate actions" by throwing things inside the office, Lyons said.
The solder had been in Fort Lee for almost three years after being sent to Iraq in 2007 for 15 months.
"We are sad for our soldier in arms that she faced those kind of challenges that she felt that she had to resort to those kinds of actions," Lyons said. "At the same time we're grateful because this situation could have been worse."
Operations at the Fort Lee based continued within an hour of the incident
Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.
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