VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - One person was shot by NAS Oceana Naval Security Forces at the Oceana Commissary Saturday.
A spokeswoman for the base says Naval Security Forces responded to a call for a suspected domestic violence incident on the base around 3:30 p.m. Naval Security Forces encountered the suspect in the commissary parking lot.
The incident happened while people were shopping inside the store, stirring up panic.
"I was pretty nervous, I was panicking a bit so I ran with my friend," Autumn Ramos, a store employee recalled. "He tried to cover me because I never been in this kind of situation before."
She worked her regular shift, bagging groceries at the Commissary. She said the eruption of gunfire caused her colleagues and customers to run for safety.
"My mind just froze for a bit and I was wondering, 'what is going on,'" Ramos said. "Then my boss told us to run to the back of the store."
Virginia Beach and Navy Police investigated two sections of the parking lot. One scene had a car on the curb with what appeared to be its front driver's-side wheel twisted off.
"Naval security forces responded to the call, encountered the suspect in the parking lot of the Oceana Commissary," Captain John Hewitt, the Commanding Officer at Naval Air Station Ocean, said as he spoke with reporters on the scene, "and discharged a fire arm at the suspect who was subsequently wounded with non-life-threatening injuries."
The suspect was transported to a local hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries. Hewitt said the incident is currently being investigated by both Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Virginia Beach Police Department.
The middle-of-the-afternoon violence proved to be a nerve-wracking experience for those at the Commissary. Ramos said she felt relief when the incident was brought under control.
"I’m just glad God looked after us and kept us safe and brought us all together," Ramos said. "I’m just glad that he watched us during the situation."
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