One person is dead and a suspect is in custody following a shooting at an Army base in east Georgia Saturday morning.
The victim, whose identity has not been released, was shot “in on-post housing” at Fort Eisenhower, just outside Augusta, in what the base described as an “active shooter” situation.
An alert issued on social media at around 8:50 a.m. instructed those at Fort Eisenhower to “execute lockdown procedures” immediately and to “take appropriate action” if in danger.
An “all clear” alert was issued roughly an hour later, with the post reopening at 9:45 a.m.
“The dangerous event has passed,” officials said in a statement. “All personnel can resume normal operations.”
Around the same time, local law enforcement issued an alert over radio asking for officers to be on the lookout for a white Toyota Camry with a tag from of Tennessee, reported CBS affiliate WRDW.
The message said the car was believed to be connected to the murder, and was “last seen near mile marker 145 on I-20 heading towards South Carolina.”
Fort Eisenhower later confirmed a suspect was in custody, but did not provide additional details.
The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, alongside state and federal authorities, are actively investigating the incident, which they said appeared “to be isolated” and did not pose further threat.
“Our focus at this time is providing support to the victim’s family and assistance to anyone impacted by this tragedy,” officials said. “The safety and well-being of our residents — our soldiers and families — remains a top priority.”
The base said it would not publicly identify the victim until family is notified and “has had time to process” the tragedy. Officials declined to share any more information on Saturday.
Fort Eisenhower, formerly known as Fort Gordon, was established in 1917 and is currently home to the U.S. Army Signal Corps and Cyber Center of Excellence. It’s one of the largest U.S. Army installations in the world with more than 16,000 military service members and 13,500 civilian personnel assigned to it.
©2024 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
© Copyright 2024 New York Daily News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.