A suspect who charged the front gate of Andersen Air Force Base (AAFB) in Guam while being pursued by police on Aug. 14 was shot dead by a Department of Defense (DOD) civilian security forces member.
AAFB posted a statement on Facebook on Thursday, saying, “At approximately 7:35 p.m., Aug. 14, the suspect crashed his vehicle while attempting to force his way through the base’s gate. He abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot into the nearby jungle area.”
The statement said that the 36th Security Forces Squadron (SFS) initiated base lockdown procedures and began searching for the suspect along with GPD as the suspect attempted to evade patrols in the jungle.
“36th SFS’s members and GPD located the suspect on base and initiated an arrest. The suspect responded aggressively attacking the arresting officers and stabbed the Department of Defense (DOD) civilian security forces member. The suspect was subsequently shot by the officer in self-defense,” the statement noted.
The suspect was pronounced deceased on scene at 7:52 a.m. local time Thursday while receiving medical attention by emergency medical personnel.
Information on the unnamed security forces member’s condition was not immediately available. Air Force officials said the intruder — who was also not named — was shot during the incident and was pronounced dead.
The commander of the 36th Wing, Brig. General Gentry Boswell said, “While apprehending a suspect, our defenders were compelled to use lethal force for their own defense, resulting in the death of the suspect.”
“We value the importance of every life and are thankful for the courage our Defenders display in the safe conduct of their duties protecting our personnel and families.”
There is an ongoing investigation into this incident and additional information may be provided when available. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Air Force Office of Special Investigation are working together with Security Forces and Guam Police Department to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and the use of force.
This is not the first time an individual rammed a base gate with a vehicle and was shot dead.
According to a report by The Virginian-Pilot, on Feb. 24, 2017 at Naval Air Station Oceana in Va., Navy Seaman Robert “Colton” Wright was shot dead by on-base police after ramming the back gate at high speed.
“Shortly before 10 p.m. that night, witnesses who called 911 described “mayhem” as Wright, 21, left a string of hit-and-runs before slamming his black 2012 Dodge Ram pickup through the base’s unmanned back gate at an estimated 80 to 90 mph,” the report had said.
“Before Wright slammed the gate, a man reported being sideswiped by Wright who he followed and watched his truck sit “stuck” at the closed and unmanned back gate, unable to get in. As the man circled in his vehicle, he described watching Wright drive off and loop back toward the gate several times,” wrote The Virginian-Pilot.
According to NCIS, Wright then “slammed the gate after driving around to get up to 80-90 mph.”
The use of deadly force in that case was highly questioned by Wright’s family.
