Official: Airman shot his commander at Texas base
FBI officials walked behind an military vehicle near the scene of a shooting at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, today, in San Antonio. (John Davenport/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
DALLAS » An airman shot his commander in an apparent murder-suicide today at a U.S. Air Force base in San Antonio, a senior U.S. official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss the shooting at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
Two handguns were found near the bodies of the men, which were inside a building that’s used for classrooms and offices, according to Brig. Gen. Robert LaBrutta, who oversees Joint Base San Antonio.
He stressed that the shooting was not an act of terrorism, and declined to identify the two, saying their families must be notified first. The Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations is leading the investigation, and the FBI is assisting.
The fatal shooting of the two is the latest to occur at a military facility in Texas in the last several years.
In January 2015, an Army veteran and former clerk at the veterans’ clinic at Fort Bliss in El Paso shot and killed a psychologist, then killed himself. About a year earlier, three soldiers were killed and 16 wounded in an attack at Fort Hood near Killeen by Army Spc. Ivan A. Lopez, who also killed himself.
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And in the deadliest attack to occur at a U.S. military installation, 13 people were killed and 31 were wounded in a mass shooting in 2009 at Fort Hood. Nidal Hasan, a former U.S. Army major, was convicted and sentenced to death in that shooting.
Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland is the home of Air Force basic training. The Army’s Fort Sam Houston and Air Force’s Lackland and Randolph bases were combined during base realignment several years ago to become the military’s largest joint base.
Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.
12 responses to “Official: Airman shot his commander at Texas base”
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Wrong! 160 miles southwest of San Antonio and you’ll be over the border well into Mexico. Fort Hood is north of San Antonio, above Austin. Good grief, so poorly reported.
..”Fort Bliss in El Paso shot and killed a psychologist”.. Specifically, William Beaumont General Hospital…
Correct, I had my first son born there–that’s when Biggs AFB was connected to the Fort. Texas is beginning to sound like Chicago!!!!
“Memories” : I finished my Residency there, at the worst time of “Vietnam”, and it wasn’t for the mountains behind (which we hiked and escaped to–with a “six-pack” and occasional visits across the Border– none of us would have survived..). On a more positive note, I hope your “son” and his siblings have gone on to a “Good-Life”!
You have to look the story up in legitimate media that have put money into actual news reporting to get the answers to what happened.
You mean like the AP?
SA you are totally wrong on the location of Ft. Hood. Ft Hood is North of San Antonio, not SW.
Not taking SA side but AP wrote the article and it did not include Ft Hood or Ft Bliss as being part of Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
I don’t see where anyone is including Ft Bliss or Ft Hood in the makeup of JBSA in the article. They aren’t part of the JB since these bases are not located in San Antonio!
Unfortunate event…a commander’s worst-case scenario…
Agree, jumping to conclusions and blaming SA. It is an AP news release.
A tragic story! Condolences to both families!
Typical media distortion—by lumping the Ft. Hood terrorist attack at Ft. Hood in with these other murders.