HONOLULU — Hawaii authorities were looking for a man who fled with a handgun after getting into a scuffle while trying to talk to soldiers at an Army base on Thursday, officials said.
No shots were fired but the Army treated it as an “active shooter situation” and two military bases on Oahu went into lockdown for several hours, said Michael Donnelly, a spokesperson for U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii.
The Army issued a shelter-in-place order for Schofield Barracks, which was later lifted. The Army was working with the Honolulu Police Department to find the suspect, who was still at large, Donnelly said.
The Army said the man was 5 feet, 10 inches tall, wearing an aloha shirt and jeans and had a mohawk-type haircut.
The man was last seen near the Schofield commissary on a bike.
He was “trying to allegedly talk with soldiers,” Donnelly said. “I don’t know if he was bartering or selling stuff, but someone confronted him, and they got into a scuffle. There was a handgun witnessed, visible.”
Neighboring Wheeler Army Airfield also went into lockdown, as did two public schools on Schofield: Daniel K. Inouye Elementary and Solomon Elementary. The incident occurred around 2:30 p.m., as children were leaving for the day, and staff, students and parents were secured indoors.
Schofield Barracks is about 20 miles north of Honolulu. It hosts the 25th Infantry Division and the 8th Theater Sustainment Command.
Wheeler Army Airfield, just next door, is home to the Hawaii Air National Guard and the headquarters for U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii.
About 60,000 people are on Schofield, including soldiers, civilians, workers, contractors and families. Combined with Wheeler, the population is more than 90,000.
