Base security forces on Thursday morning fatally shot a man who charged at them after he crashed a stolen vehicle into a north gate barrier at Naval Air Station-Corpus Christi, officials told Navy Times.
Officials at the Nueces County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that they have scheduled an autopsy for the unidentified dead man for Thursday afternoon.
Corpus Christi Police Department officials have traced the stolen Ford Edge crossover SUV to a carjacking at a gas station that occurred around 7 a.m. Thursday about 8 miles west of NAS Corpus Christi’s south gate.
That’s where the man entered the base about 30 minutes later, speeding and weaving to avoid NAS Corpus Christi Security forces in hot pursuit, according to three written statements sent to Navy Times by officials there.
The man drove across the base and attempted to escape through the north gate along Ocean Drive but crashed and the SUV erupted in flames, authorities said.
Bolting from the SUV, he “charged Security force personnel, who fired shots in response,” the statement said.
Emergency responders pronounced the driver dead at the scene.
The gate remains closed until further notice but the base has resumed operations.
“As is routine, the Security force members have been assigned to administrative duties while the incident is under review,” according to the statement.
Officer Gena Pena, a spokeswoman for the Corpus Christi Police Department, told Navy Times that the man used “some level of force” to push a woman out of the way while she was trying to put gas in her dark gray 2015 Ford Edge at a filling station along Everhart Road.
Although the carjacker’s death has been confirmed, authorities are treating the case as an aggravated robbery.
The woman suffered minor injuries, Pena added.
Prine came to Navy Times after stints at the San Diego Union-Tribune and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He served in the Marine Corps and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. His awards include the Joseph Galloway Award for Distinguished Reporting on the military, a first prize from Investigative Reporters & Editors and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
