Naval Terror Attack: FBI Says Shooting on Texas Naval Air Station Is an Act of Terrorism, Searching for a Second “Person [Jihadi] of Interest” (Video)

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UPDATED: FBI Says NAS Corpus Christi Gun Battle is ‘Terrorism Related’, 2nd Person of Interest at Large

By: Sam LaGrone and Ben Werner, USNI, May 21, 2020:

 

The FBI is investigating an early morning shooting at a Texas naval air station as an act of terrorism and searching for a second “person of interest” related to the incident, the agency announced on Thursday.

 

“We have determined that the incident this morning at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is terrorism-related. We are working diligently with our state, local and federal partners on this investigation which is fluid and evolving. The subject is deceased. The scene is still being processed,” Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Leah Greeves said in a brief statement.
“We may have a second related person of interest at large in the community but we would encourage the public to remain calm.”

 

Earlier on Thursday, a U.S. official confirmed to USNI News the authorities believed a Navy security team killed an “Arab male” in a gun battle gate at the base.

 

The official did not have any additional details on the identity of the shooter beyond apparent ethnicity. An FBI spokeswoman did not provide additional details when contacted by USNI News earlier on Thursday. Greeves did not provide any additional details on the shooter other than confirming he had been killed.

 

Navy Security Forces responded to an active shooter at NAS Corpus Christi at about 7:15 a.m. EST resulting in the injury to the NSF sailor. The shooter was killed by the NSF team, the official told USNI News.

“One sailor attached to NAS Corpus Christi Navy Security Forces sustained minor injuries and was released from a local hospital,” the Navy said on Thursday afternoon.
“The installation has reopened with traffic flowing through the South Gate. The North Gate remains closed.”

Corpus Christi police said the incident took place at one of the air station’s gates.

In amateur video of the shooting published by KIII 3 News, about two dozen shots of small-arms fire can be heard around the North Gate of the air station.

According to a 911 call released Thursday, Corpus Christi law enforcement was alerted to an active shooter on base at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi during the morning commute. Based on video released, cars were lined up waiting to enter the base through the base’s North Gate when the shooting occurred.

Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is home to the four squadrons of Training Air Wing Four, which uses Truax Field on base and outlying airfields. Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and foreign student pilots train at the base.

Naval Air Station Corpus Christi also houses the Corpus Christi Army Depot which serves as the primary maintenance depot for Department of Defense rotary-wing aircraft. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service also operates from Naval Air Station Corpus Christi.

The shooting comes days after the Attorney General William Barr linked the NAS Pensacola, Fla., shooter that killed three sailors in December to terror organization Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Two iPhones belonging to Royal Saudi Air Force 2nd Lt. Ahmed Mohammed Alshamrani, a foreign military student assigned to the base, contained messages that the FBI say linked him to AQAP. Barr called the December shooting an, “act of terrorism.”

Last year the NSF fatally shot Daniel King after he drove a stolen sport utility vehicle onto the base through an exit, according to KRIS 6 News in Corpus Christi. At the time, Navy investigators and local law enforcement officers did not have a motive for the King’s actions.