Sergeant First Class Amos Patton reportedly shot two soldiers outside a armory near the the Naval Support Activity Mid-South facility in Millington Tennessee, north of Memphis on Thursday afternoon, UPI.com reported. The two victims are being treated for life-threatening injuries at a Memphis hospital, according to Millington Police Chief Rita Stanback.
Patton was disarmed and taken into custody following the shooting.
"I'm sure there could have been more injury if they hadn't taken him into custody or gotten him restrained," Stanbeck said at a Thursday press briefing.
Crawford and a sergeant reportedly were speaking to Patton "about policies and procedures" before he left and went to his car where he returned with a computer bag and fanny pack. Patton reported "had just been relieved of duty when he pulled a handgun from a "fanny pack" and began shooting," according to Reuters. They told Patton he would be recommended for a reduction in rank and dismissal from the active Guard reserve, the affidavit filed in Memphis federal court said.
"Patton pulled a a .380 semi-automatic pistol from the waist pack and shot at the officers, emptying his gun before he was taken down by fellow guardsman," UPI.com reported on Friday.
The Tennessee National Guard identified two of the wounded men as Major William J. Crawford and Sergeant Major Ricky R. McKenzie. One was shot in the leg and the other in the foot, according to police in Millington, Tennessee, the city where the facility is located. A third guardsman was grazed by a bullet, officials said, as reported by Reuters.
"It concerns me today what's happened all over the world, Washington D.C., that Washington Naval Yard, you never think something like this will happen on your watch, in good ol' Tennessee here. But it did happen," said Max Haston, a Major General of the Tennessee National Guard.
A nearby elementary school, Navy base and a golf course were briefly shutdown after the shooting, but later reopened on Thursday afternoon, news reports said.
The incident at the armory occurred a little more than a month after Aaron Alexis, a Navy contractor, killed 12 people at the U.S. Navy Yard in Washington D.C.
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