Two Coast Guard members dead in shooting at Alaska station: officials

(CBS/AP) KODIAK, Alaska - Two Coast Guard members were fatally shot Thursday at a communications station on an island off Alaska, officials said.

Officials said it remained unclear if the deaths at the Coast Guard Station on Kodiak Island were a double homicide or a murder-suicide. Captain Jesse Moore said it was "possible that the suspect remains at large."

About 60 enlisted personnel and civilians work at the station, which serves as the "ears in the sky" for radio transmissions from mariners and aircraft, Petty Officer Charly Hengen said. It is responsible for relaying distress calls to the Guard's air station in Anchorage.

A commanding officer also works at the station, which is a few miles from the Guard's base, Hengen said.

The base, about eight miles from the island's largest city of Kodiak, and nearby schools were on lockdown. Moore called on the city's 6,300 or so residents to remain calm and vigilant until more details emerged. However, he stressed that the shooting was a "rare occurrence."

The communications station has "secure front doors," Hengen said, and requires staff and visitors to show identification.

The FBI said agents were headed to Kodiak from Anchorage about 250 miles away. The Guard said the identities of the victims would be released after family members were notified.