The Marine whose death in a North Carolina barracks room on Wednesday prompted the arrest of another Marine was shot in “an isolated incident,” not a mass shooting, a Marine spokeswoman said Thursday.
The Marine Corps said late Wednesday night that a Marine who was “suspected of involvement in the death of another Marine” had been apprehended by base law enforcement at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
“There was no mass shooting incident aboard Camp Lejeune, there was an isolated incident involving two Marines,” 2nd Marine Division spokeswoman 1st Lt. Olivia Giarrizzo clarified in an emailed statement to Marine Corps Times Thursday afternoon.
Her statement came after apparently inaccurate reports of an active shooter at the North Carolina base circulated on social media.
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Giarrizzo also said the dead Marine had been part of the infantry unit 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, which is part of the Camp Lejeune-based 2nd Marine Division.
As a matter of policy, the Defense Department typically waits to release the name of a deceased service member until 24 hours after notifying the family.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the Marine’s family and friends at this time,” Giarrizzo said in the statement.
The Marine suspected of involvement in the death was arrested at approximately 10:15 p.m. Wednesday in connection with an incident that occurred in an on-base barracks room earlier that evening, according to a Marine Corps news release late that night. The Corps hasn’t released that Marine’s identity, either.
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating what happened, and 2nd Marine Division will assist investigators as much as possible, Giarrizzo said.
In 2021, a Marine at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, was hospitalized after getting shot in the barracks but recovered. NCIS said days later the Marine likely had been shot by accident.
The base is scheduled to hold an annual emergency response exercise starting Friday that “provides realistic training opportunities meant to increase the installation’s emergency response efforts, command and control, and security capabilities,” according to a news release about the event.
Irene Loewenson is a staff reporter for Marine Corps Times. She joined Military Times as an editorial fellow in August 2022. She is a graduate of Williams College, where she was the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper.
