A US soldier has died after barricading herself in an office and shooting herself inside a major command’s headquarters at Fort Lee in Virginia.
Base officials said the unidentified solider was pronounced dead Monday after being taken to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.
The Fort Lee army base in Virginia was locked down for about an hour on Monday after the soldier went on a rampage in an office before barricading herself inside and then shooting herself.
“During negotiations with the soldier, she chose to turn the weapon on herself,” Army Major General Stephen Lyons said.
Lyons described the soldier as “enraged” after entering the Combined Arms Support Command Headquarters building 5020, and then barricading herself in an office on the third floor of the four story building. About 1,100 people were in the building at the time of the incident, the Associated Press reported.
Fort Lee police arrived within about two minutes, followed by the FBI, Lyons said. While in negotiations with law enforcement the woman shot herself. The incident was reported cleared by the base’s Facebook page at 9:50am.
The soldier was taken to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center for treatment. She is a sergeant first-class who has been with the army for 14 years and at Fort Lee for three, Lyons said, according to the Associated Press. The soldier did not use her service weapon during the incident.
“Soldiers and civilians responded appropriately,” said Lyons. The base followed an “active shooter protocol,” according to media relations personnel. “This situation could have been worse,” he said.
The base has a daily population of 34,000 and is the Army’s third-largest training site, according to the base’s website. Fort Lee is about 28 miles south of Richmond, Virginia and 135 miles south of Washington DC.
“The investigation obviously will continue,” said Lyons. “We are sad for our soldier in arms that she faced those kinds of challenges that she felt she had to resort to those kinds of actions. At the same time, we’re equally grateful, because this situation could have been worse.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.