ATLANTA (AP) — The recent shooting of five U.S. Army soldiers at a Georgia base adds to a troubling pattern of violence at U.S. military sites over the years. These incidents vary from isolated altercations among service members and base attacks to mass-casualty events, such as the 2009 shooting by an Army psychiatrist at Fort Hood, Texas, which resulted in 13 deaths.
Here is a look at some of the shootings at U.S. military bases in recent years:
In December, a National Guard soldier faced murder charges after allegedly shooting a man at a former girlfriend’s Fort Gordon residence. Located near Augusta, Georgia, this base houses the U.S. Army Cyber Command and was previously named Fort Eisenhower.
Also, in December 2022, a soldier was accused of murder in a military court after a sergeant’s death at Georgia’s Fort Stewart. Both were part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division. Officials noted the soldier used a privately owned firearm, and fellow soldiers restrained him before his arrest.
In June 2020, a shooting at North Dakota’s Grand Forks Air Force Base resulted in the deaths of a woman and a man. The woman’s family later reported to KJZZ in Phoenix that the incident stemmed from domestic violence.
In May 2020, a gunman attempted to breach Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, opening fire and injuring a sailor on base security. Authorities state that security officers killed the attacker, Adam Salim Alsahli, a local resident and community college student. The FBI categorized the event as “terror-related,” while a watchdog reported Alsahli’s support for hard-line clerics.
On Dec. 6, 2019, a Saudi Air Force officer training at a Pensacola, Florida, Navy base killed three U.S. sailors and injured eight others in what officials labeled an act of terrorism. Top federal law enforcement indicated the shooter, Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, communicated with al-Qaida about planning and strategies. Alshamrani was shot by a sheriff’s deputy.
On Dec. 4, 2019, a U.S. Navy sailor used his service rifle to shoot three civilian shipyard workers at the Pearl Harbor military base in Hawaii, killing two of them before killing himself with his service pistol. Gabriel Antonio Romero, 22, of San Antonio, Texas, was said to be unhappy with his commanders and undergoing counseling, although a motive for the shooting was not determined.
In February 2017, a sailor was fatally shot at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach by a security officer after he crashed through a station gate and went to his squadron’s hangar. Seaman Robert Colton Wright was reported to be “yelling and causing damage” and moving aggressively toward security officers until one of the officers fired, striking him. Wright worked as an information systems technician for Strike Fighter Squadron 81.
In April 2016, an airman fatally shot his commander before shooting himself at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. Military investigators said Tech Sgt. Steven Bellino, 41, confronted Lt. Col. William Schroeder in an office before the two struggled, and Schroeder was shot multiple times. The men, both veterans of the U.S. Special Operations Command, were in the Air Force’s elite Battlefield Airmen program at Lackland.
In July 2015, four Marines and a sailor were killed by Kuwait-born Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, of Hixson, Tennessee, who opened fire at a recruiting center in Chattanooga. He then drove several miles away to a Navy and Marine reserve center, where he shot and killed the Marines and wounded the sailor, who later died. Abdulazeez was shot to death by police.
In April 2014, an Army soldier gunned down three other military men at Fort Hood in Texas before killing himself. Authorities said that Spc. Ivan Lopez had an argument with colleagues in his unit before opening fire.
In September 2013, a defense contract employee and former Navy reservist used a valid pass to get onto the Washington Navy Yard. Authorities said Aaron Alexis killed 12 people before he was killed in a gunbattle with police, authorities said. The Washington Navy Yard is an administrative center for the U.S. Navy and the oldest naval installation in the country.
In November 2009, Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 at Fort Hood. He said he was angry about being deployed to Afghanistan and wanted to protect Islamic and Taliban leaders from U.S. troops. It was the deadliest attack on a domestic military installation in U.S. history. The Department of Defense called the attack an act of workplace violence, not terrorism.
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Finley reported from Raleigh, North Carolina.
