Law Enforcement Specialties >> Military Law Enforcement >> Shooting at PX in Ft. Lewis WA.
Shooting at PX in Ft. Lewis WA.
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Posted almost 4 years ago This is deff a sobering thing to hear due to the fact that I am joining the Air Force to be a base police officer. It's just a reminder that LE is LE no matter where you do it. Contents were copy and pasted from http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_072209WAB-fort-lewis-double-shooting-TP.66fb22ea.html Murder-suicide at Ft. Lewis 10:14 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 By DREW MIKKELSEN / KING 5 News and KING5.com FORT LEWIS, Wash. – A retired soldier and a civilian worker are dead in an apparent murder-suicide at Fort Lewis Wednesday morning. Fort Lewis says the suspect, a 59-year-old Lakewood man, shot the woman in a corridor outside the Main Post Exchange, or PX, at about 11:20 a.m., then shot himself in the head. He used up to five shots, said Fort Lewis spokesman Joseph Piek, who adds that the FBI is now taking over the investigation, with help from Fort Lewis police and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. Both people were taken to Madigan Army Medical Center where the woman was pronounced dead a short time later. The suspect was pronounced dead shortly before 5 p.m. Video RAW: Fort Lewis spokesperson on shooting RAW: Witnesses describe what happened Related Content KING 5 South Bureau Follow KING 5 on Twitter Follow NWCN on Twitter The woman is a civilian who was working as a vendor at the PX, said Maj. Mike Garcia, 1st Corps spokesman. She was not an Army Air Force Exchange employee. Their names are being withheld while families are notified. Fort Lewis would not reveal their relationship or what may have motivated the shooting. Several people were inside the PX during the shooting, but nobody else was hurt. Virginia Chiene of Seattle was with her daughter having coffee and lunch at the PX when she heard the gunshots. Kathy Johnson Soldiers and civilians stand outside the Fort Lewis, Wash. Post Exchange after a retired soldier allegedly shot a civilian woman then himself on Wednesday, July 22, 2009. "We were so close to the action, it was startling," said Chiene, who stopped at Fort Lewis with her daughter and granddaughter on the way to the Oregon Coast. "Never saw anything so terrible, it was just awful," said Chiene. "Luckily he didn't go berserk and start killing other people," said Chiene's daughter, Diane Dezelan. Witnesses called it a shock to hear gunshots at a location they normally consider safe. "I jumped underneath a rack of clothes... and called my husband," said Kathy Johnson, who was shopping with her 85-year-old mother during the incident. "I was tucked as close as I could into a ball underneath the clothes… and there was another woman that was underneath the clothes rack 15 feet away from me." "The whole PX went into a deadly silence," said Johnson. "You didn’t hear sirens, you didn’t hear screaming. Every now and then you might hear a few voices, but the only sound you could hear was the music coming overhead." Military Police arrived about 5 minutes after the shooting and shut down the PX . It will remain closed Wednesday. The FBI is taking over the investigation. Garcia says there is a requirement for anyone visiting the post to register firearms, but he could not immediately say if the gun used in the shooting was properly registered. He says neither concealed weapons nor loaded weapons are allowed on post. “There is no reason to bring a loaded firearm onto this installation, nor is it authorized,” said Garcia. Fort Lewis says no more than five shots were fired and a single handgun was used. The suspect retired from the Army in 1992. |
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| Posted almost 4 years ago This is also the Video news coverage http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=382572&shu=1 |
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| Posted almost 4 years ago PDexplorer there have been many shooting incidents over the years at Military bases. A military base is the same as a small town with all the associated problems. Fairchild AFB on 21 June 1994 was the location of largest incident. 21 people wounded, 4 people killed. The shooter Dean Melberg was shot and killed by a Security Policeman (now Security Forces) "I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious." --Thomas Jefferson "To be prepared for war, is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." --George Washington |
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Anonymous 
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| Posted almost 4 years ago Interesting thing about Ft. Lewis is that the Pierce County SO is contracted to handle "SWAT" call outs for that installation. |
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| Posted almost 4 years ago Any further updates on this in the media? |
