FORT LEE, Va. — A female soldier with a gun inside a key building turned the weapon on herself, causing an injury, but didn’t wound any others as a heavily trafficked Virginia Army base temporarily went on lockdown Monday morning.
Early reports indicate that the soldier fired one shot inside a four-story building that is the headquarters for the Army’s Combined Arms Support Command, according to a military news release. The shooter was taken to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center and her condition wasn’t known, according to the Army. VCU confirmed that it received a patient from Fort Lee but did not give other details.
The Army statement did not identify the shooter and said officials would not immediately release any further information.
Fort Lee is 25 miles south of Richmond and 130 miles from Washington. It is the Army’s third-largest training site, according to Fort Lee’s website. Its daily population is about 34,000, with members from all branches, their families, civilians and contractors. The Army website also cites enormous growth and renovations at Fort Lee over the past decade as a result of realignment and closures of bases across the U.S.
CASCOM is responsible for training more than 180,000 students annually. Maj. Gen. Stephen R. Lyons became the new commanding general of CASCOM on Aug. 22.
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