A soldier snapped and barricaded herself in a Virginia Army Base building, threw objects around the office and fatally shot herself in the head as law enforcement authorities tried to negotiate with her, the Associated Press reported on Monday.
The yet-to-be-identified soldier, was pronounced dead at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. No other injuries were reported.
The busy armed forces base went on lockdown around 9 a.m. while the soldier barricaded herself in the building that houses the Army's Combined Arms Support Command. Though no one was hurt, about 1,100 people were on lockdown inside.
The sergeant 1st class broke down, locked herself in an office with a gun and threw objects at authorities trying to talk her down, Maj. Gen Stephen R. Lyons, CASC's commander, told the New York Daily News.
The soldier then turned the gun on herself and fired a single round, Lyons said. He didn't know if she had been treated for menial health issues and couldn't say whether drugs or alcohol were involved. The gun she used wasn't issued by the Army.
Police said they won't release her identity until 24 hours after notifying her next of kin. She had been in the Army for 14 years and at Fort Lee for three, according to the Associated Press.
Fort Lee reopened and normal operations continued within an hour of the shooting, with trucks and cars coming and going from the base. The main gate was closest to the scene and traffic was controlled, but other gates operated normally.
Fort Lee is in Prince George County, about a half hour south of Richmond and 130 miles from Washington, D.C. It is the Army's third-largest training location, with a population of 34,000 service members, civilians and contractors.
Other deadly shootings have occurred at Army and Naval bases. A disturbed soldier killed three people at Fort Hood in Killeen, T.X. in April.
Fort Hood was also the location of a shooting in 2009 that is considered the deadliest in military base history.
