Officer shot dead at Fort Bragg

Updated at 7:38 p.m. ET: A soldier is dead and two others injured following a shooting Thursday afternoon at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, according to a statement released by the post. A senior U.S. defense official told NBC News that the deceased victim was a battalion commander.

The shooter was a soldier, according to the Fort Bragg statement. He shot another member of the unit during a safety brief — in this case, a 10- to 15-minute lecture by a commander or soldier-in-charge about staying safe for the upcoming Fourth of July weekend.

The soldier then shot himself. He is injured and in custody, according to the statement. A third soldier was “slightly” wounded, according to the statement.


The victim is from the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, which is a reconnaissance and intelligence unit, according to its Facebook page. A brigade includes three or more battalions, according to the Army’s homepage.

Special agents from the Army’s Criminal Investigation team were on site Thursday evening.

“This is a tragedy for our community,” Col. Kevin Arata, spokesman for Fort Bragg, said at a press conference. “We don’t yet know the reasons for the shooting, but are working with the unit and the affected families to help them through this difficult period.”

Officials said earlier that the incident does not appear to be terrorist-related.

Fort Bragg officials said on Facebook that the post is not on lockdown. 

NBC News’ Courtney Kube and Jim Miklaszewski and msnbc.com’s Isolde Raftery and Rebecca Ruiz contributed to this report.

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