A female soldier who sparked an "active shooter" alert on a Virginia military base has died after shooting herself, military sources say.
The soldier was pronounced dead on Monday several hours after being admitted to the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.
She had barricaded herself in an office at the Fort Lee Army base, throwing things around the room and ultimately shooting herself with the pistol she was carrying.
The soldier, who has not yet been publicly identified, reportedly did not harm anybody else during her morning rampage in an office in a four-storey building on the base, which is located about 45km south of Richmond, Virginia.
The base was put on lockdown while the soldier was barricaded on the third floor of the complex housing the Army's Combined Arms Support Command, where about 1100 people were working at the time, Fort Lee authorities said.
Those inside the building fled or took shelter in their offices and Fort Lee police responded within two minutes of being informed that there was an active shooter on the base, according to the statement released by Fort Lee.
Major General Stephen R. Lyons, the commanding general of the support command, said the soldier was a sergeant first class who had been in the Army for 14 years and stationed at Fort Lee for three years.
"We are sad for our soldier in arms that she faced those kinds of challenges that she thought she had to resort to those kind of actions," Lyons said at a news conference.
He said authorities did not yet know if the sergeant was receiving mental health treatment, but he described her as enraged during the incident. The weapon she was carrying was a small-calibre handgun and not a service weapon, he added.
Police tried to begin negotiating with the barricaded soldier, but she then shot herself. Less than an hour after the alert was declared, base authorities lifted it and activities returned to normal.
The incident is the fourth violent act this year on a Virginia military base, according to local media.
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.
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