Suspect dead, Joint Base Charleston cordon lifted after hostage-taking

GOOSE CREEK, SC (WCSC) – Officials at Joint Base Charleston Naval Weapons Station say the curfew has been lifted following a hostage situation on Friday.

Officers with the Goose Creek Police Department received a call from the Marine Weapons Station about a hostage situation involving a man carrying a gun at a home on Knutson Street, Capt. James Emerson said.

Officers cordoned off the house and found that the man was in the house with a one-month-old infant.

Emerson said when officers entered the home, they heard two gunshots coming from the second floor. Officers found the man with fatal injuries that were believed to be self-inflicted.

The baby was unharmed and returned to its mother.

During the hostage situation, the nearby Marrington elementary and middle schools and the Child Development Center were cordoned off. Residents of the base's nearby housing were also asked to evacuate.

“We take any threat to the security of our facility seriously and have therefore activated our established procedures to ensure the safety of our personnel and the surrounding community,” officials said in a press release.

Emerson said the incident remains under investigation by the Goose Creek Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division.

Berkeley County officials were also on site.

The Berkeley County Coroner's Office has not yet released the man's name.

All rights reserved.