Oregon Public Broadcasting

Two people are dead after an apparent murder-suicide at the Fort Lewis Army Base near Tacoma.

The shooting Wednesday comes at the same time the FBI is investigating another crime at Fort Lewis. Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

According to the Army, a 59-year old retired soldier shot and killed a civilian female employee and then turned the gun on himself.

Meanwhile, the FBI has arrested a suspect in the sexual assault of a young girl on Fort Lewis grounds.

According to court documents 36-year old Jeffrey Smiley -- who lives near the base, but is not associated with the military -- built encampments in the woods at Fort Lewis where the alleged crime occurred.

Army spokeswoman Catherine Caruso says Fort Lewis encompasses 86,000 acres and as many as 80,000 people pass through each day. Given that, she says, it's still a very safe community.

Catherine Caruso: “Do things happen, yes and are we concerned about it, absolutely and any time there's an incident we're going to look into and see if there are lessons to be learned.”

Caruso says while access to much of Fort Lewis is tightly controlled, other parts are not fenced and in fact public roads cut through the base.