Navy official identifies civilian who shot sailor at base; records show he is convicted felon

NORFOLK, Va. – The civilian truck driver who killed a sailor aboard a destroyer at the world’s largest naval base was a felon convicted of voluntary manslaughter and crack cocaine possession, a Navy official said Thursday.

The official, who was familiar with the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about the case, said the shooter was Jeffrey Tyrone Savage.

Savage was killed by Navy security forces on Monday night aboard the USS Mahan after he disarmed the ship’s petty officer of the watch and used her gun to shoot Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Mayo. Mayo was providing security at Naval Station Norfolk.

Navy officials have previously said there’s no indication the attack was planned or had any link to terrorism. Navy investigators have also said there’s no indication Savage had a previous relationship with the ship or anyone on it.

Officials are still searching for answers about why the 35-year-old man drove his tractor-trailer cab onto base, walked onto a pier and up a ramp toward the ship before being confronted by security. A hospital ship was also docked at the same pier. The Navy has said the civilian shouldn’t have been on the installation the night of the shooting, and investigators are reviewing why he was allowed.

North Carolina records show Savage was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in 2008 and released from prison on Dec. 30, 2009.

Savage and the victim were riding in a vehicle in 2005 when they began to struggle over a weapon and the weapon went off, shooting the victim, who was then left on the side of the road, according to Keith Acree with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.

Savage was also sentenced in Virginia in 1998 for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and served nearly five years in federal prison before transferring to a halfway house and home confinement in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area, according to Chris Burke, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Savage also spent two years in federal prison beginning in 2010 after his supervision was revoked and was transferred to a halfway house in February 2012, Burke said.

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles could not say whether Savage had a valid commercial driver’s license, citing privacy laws. The license would have allowed Savage to drive a commercial vehicle such as a tractor-trailer.