Marine Corps personnel shot and killed an individual armed with a knife trying to breach a gate checkpoint to Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, Calif. on Friday around noon local time.
The individual was driving a vehicle that had attempted to enter the base through the Gate 5 checkpoint and was stopped by base personnel. The driver exited the vehicle and approached personnel with a knife, ignored warnings, and was shot dead.
“Base personnel issued verbal commands to stop the vehicle at which point the individual exited their vehicle and approached with a knife and hostile intent. After several warnings the individual was shot by base personnel,” Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego said in a statement provided to American Military News.
“Emergency services were called and the individual was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:16 p.m.,” the statement added.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) are investigating the incident. The individual’s motive or possible connection to the base are not yet known.
NCIS released a statement that said, “Out of respect for the ongoing investigative process, at this time we are not able to provide additional details.”
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego is the Corps’ west coast base for enlisted Marines’ initial training. The base encompasses 388 acres and was established in 1924. It serves as the training ground for more than 20,000 new Marines each year.
The base made headlines in March 2018 when a recruit, Pvt. Patrick Armando Vega, 21, died suddenly of cardiac arrest after days of illness during recruit training.
