A Japanese employee at Naval Air Facility Atsugi was found dead Saturday at about 9:40 a.m. on the second floor of the base security building, base officials said Sunday.
The 39-year-old man from Sagamihara City was a base security guard, according to the officials. The man’s name was not released at the request of his family. The death is being investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Japanese police.
Base officials said a security guard heard the man’s cell phone ring from behind a locked girls’ bathroom. Security officers broke down the door and found the man on the ground with a 9 mm handgun between his legs.
A text message on his cell phone read, "Mother, father, thank you. I’m sorry."