Two dead in shooting at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio

The morning calm at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland was shattered Friday when an apparent murder-suicide at a classroom building left two men dead, triggered a lockdown and brought a swarm of military, federal and local law enforcement.

Now, a shaken military community is trying to piece together what may have prompted the violence.

"This morning, we received one of those calls that you never want to receive," Brig. Gen. Bob LaBrutta, commander of the 502nd Air Base Wing and Joint Base San Antonio, said in a news conference after the lockdown had been lifted. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the families that are going to be affected by this tragedy. The care of those families is really foremost in our minds right now."

Details about the incident were slow to emerge Friday. LaBrutta said that, pending notification of the victims' families, the Air Force would not release any information about them, their relationship, or speculate about the shooting's possible motive.

However, Air Force Times obtained an internal Pentagon memo indicating the commanding officer of a training squadron at the base was shot by another airman. That communication, distributed among senior military officials as law enforcement officials swarmed the base's Medina Annex, apparently listed an incorrect squadron. The mistake was pointed out by an Air Force spokeswoman at the Pentagon, who said she was not authorized to offer further clarity.

The Associated Press also reported Friday that an unnamed senior U.S. official confirmed an airman shot his commander.