[FoxNews] The incident took place at around 4:30 a.m., and it is unclear if there were any injuries or how many shooters were involvedSecurity forces at the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland (JBSA) returned fire early Saturday on at least one drive-by suspect who is accused of firing upon the main gate at the JBSA-Chapman Training Annex, a JBSA spokesperson tells Fox News Digital.
The officers were fired upon at around 4:30 a.m. by at least one suspect in a sedan and immediately returned fire. There were no injuries reported, and the gate was shut for a number of hours.
It is unclear how many shooters were involved and how many times they fired upon the base.
San Antonio police officers also arrived at the scene to assist in the investigation, Antosh said.
A motive for the shooting is not known.
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The JBSA-Chapman Training Annex entry gate was closed and reopened at around 9:30 a.m. local time. Drivers were advised to use an alternate gate located north of primary on Ray Ellison Boulevard.
Lackland is home to more than 24,000 active duty members and 10,000 Department of Defense civilians, according to the base website. It includes the 37th Training Wing; 149th Fighter Wing; 59th Medical Wing; the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency; 24th Air Force Wing, 67th Network Warfare Wing; the Cryptologic Systems Group; the National Security Agency; and 70 associated units.
| The Houston Chronicle adds: |
The first attack occurred around 2:15 a.m., when Air Force Security Forces personnel at the entrance gate of the Chapman Training Annex on the Southwest Side saw a sedan drive past and heard gunshots and the sound of bullets whistling past them, police and Air Force officials said.
The guards called for backup in case the attackers returned. Shortly before 5 a.m., the same sedan stopped just east of the gate at Ray Ellison Boulevard and Medina Base Road. "For a second time, shots were fired at the Air Force security personnel," said Sgt. Washington Moscoso, a front man for the San Antonio Police Department.
This time, the Air Force guards returned fire with their service weapons, typically 9mm handguns, and the sedan sped off. No one was injured in the exchange of gunfire, said JBSA spokeswoman Stefanie Antosh.
Police said they found shell casings near where the car had stopped, but it wasn’t known how many rounds were fired.
Antosh said there was more than one shooter in the sedan but the exact number was unknown, as was the attackers' motive. No details of the car’s make, model or color were released.
Lackland resumed normal operations. It was not clear if Air Force Security Forces would assign more personnel to the gates at Lackland and other facilities on JBSA, which include Randolph AFB, the Army’s Fort Sam Houston and the Camp Bullis training ground.
SAPD officers responded to the scene of the shooting and helped to collect evidence. The department was investigating the incident as an "aggravated assault with deadly weapon."
The Chapman Annex, located just west of Lackland’s main facilities, is the home of Air Force special warfare training. Long known as the Medina Annex, it was renamed in 2020 for Air Force Master Sgt. John Chapman, a combat air controller who was killed in a battle in Afghanistan on March 4, 2002, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
The gate where Saturday's shooting occurred faces Valley Hi Elementary school. A display of an F-104 fighter jet stands behind the guard shack, which was attended by a lone security officer on Saturday afternoon.
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