A U.S. soldier was charged with murder Thursday in the fatal shooting of an unidentified civilian Army employee at Fort Knox military base in Kentucky Wednesday.
"Special Agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command are investigating a personal incident and not a random act of violence," said Chris Grey, spokesperson for the independent Army investigative agency.
Authorities arrested Marquinta E. Jacobs, a solider with Fort Knox's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Thursday in Portland, Tenn. for the unidentified man's death, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command said.
A federal court filing made by the FBI Thursday said Jacobs shot a .45-claiber handgun at the victim, "striking him several times." According to the filing, a witness apparently observed Jacobs and the victim exchange words in the parking lot located outside the headquarters for U.S. Army Human Resources Command at Fort Knox, and then saw Jacobs shoot the man. Officers reportedly discovered eight shell casings at the scene of the crime.
Police received a 911 call about the incident at 5:40 p.m. and arrived at the scene "within minutes." Authorities transported the victim by ambulance to Ireland Army Community Hospital, eventually pronouncing him dead, according to a statement from base's public affairs office.
After the shooting, officials enacted a 100 percent lockdown of the Fort Knox army base. The order was lifted by the end of Wednesday.
Authorities have not yet released the victim's identity, but said he was a civilian employee of Army Human Resources Command.
The massive Fort Knox military base, extending over 170 miles throughout three counties in Kentucky, is an entirely separate complex from the infamous federal gold depository.
The tragic shooting arrives a mere two weeks after a U.S. Marine fatally shot two colleagues at the Quantico Marine Corps base in Virginia.
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