Two dead in shooting at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio

Now, a shaken military community Lackland is trying to piece together what may have prompted the violence led one man to shoot another man, before turning the his Glock pistol on himself.

"This morning, we received one of those calls that you never want to receive," Brig. Gen. Bob LaBrutta, the commander of the 502nd Air Base Wing and Joint Base San Antonio, said in a news conference at the base after the lockdown had been lifted. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the families that are going to be affected by this tragedy. The care of those families is really foremost in our minds right now."

Details about the incident were slow to emerge Friday. LaBrutta said that, pending notification of the victims' families, the Air Force would not release any information about them, on the deceased pending notification of their next of kin, their relationship, or speculate about the shooting's possible motive in the shooting.

However, An initial internal Pentagon communication obtained by Air Force Times obtained an internal Pentagon memo indicating said the commanding officer of a training squadron at the base was shot by another airman. That communication, distributed among senior military officials as law enforcement officials swarmed the base's Medina Annex, apparently listed an incorrect squadron. The mistake was pointed out by an Air Force spokeswoman at the Pentagon, who said she was not authorized to offer further clarity.

The Associated Press also reported Friday afternoon that an unnamed senior U.S. official confirmed said an airman shot his commander.

The shooting took place at Building 147 of the Medina Annex, in a classroom facility known as Forbes Hall, said Lt. Col. Bobby Ford, who leads the base's 802nd security forces squadron commander at Lackland, said at the news conference. The first 911 call reporting the active shooting was made to 911 at 8:40 a.m. Central Standard Time, he added Ford said.

Ford said two patrols responded to the scene within three minutes of the call being placed and entered the building to begin searching. The base was also immediately placed on lockdown, he said. 

Within eight minutes, Ford said, that officers found the two men dead in an office on the first floor. LaBrutta said two Glock pistols were found at the scene. 

For the next hour, first responders continued to sweep the building to searching for other potential shooters or victims until 9:59 a.m. At 10 a.m., the building was declared safe and law enforcement began investigating the crime scene, Ford said.

Friday's But the shooting marks the latest in a series of violent attacks inside the nation's military facilities. The trend has caused anxiety among service members and their families, while sparking debate over how the military can ensure their safety and comes as at a time of high tensions and concerns about troops' vulnerability to mass shootings in the United States.

Last summer, after In June 2013, an Army captain was shot and wounded by her estranged husband at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston. In 2015, four Marines and a Navy sailor were killed by a terrorist in Chattanooga, Tennessee, there were calls in Congress and beyond to allow military personnel to carry firearms while on duty. That debate has intensified as And in 2009, 13 people were killed and more than 30 were wounded in a mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas. And as the United States has ramped up its war against the Islamic State militant group in the Middle East, ISIS sympathizers have issues threats against U.S. troops and their families, encouraging sympathizers to attack them in the open on social media, further raising fears.

The incident shooting also took place on the same day that several hundred new airmen and their families gathered at the base to mark their graduation from had their basic military training at the base graduation ceremony.