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Police said a gunman shot four people, killing three of them, at about 8:30 p.m. in the second-floor meeting room of a business located in building 79 on the 5100 block of South 11th Street. The gunman then apparently committed suicide.
The victims were identified as Robert Norris, 31, of Newark, Del.; Mark Norris, 46, of Grove, N.J. and James Reif, 42, of Endicott, N.Y.
It is not clear if the Norris’ were related.
Sources told NBC 10 the men were shot with an AK-47 assault rifle that was recovered from the trunk of the gunman's car, noting that some of the victims were bound at the hands and feet with rope or tape.
Police were questioning two other people who were at the building but uninjured.
"The preliminary information that we're getting is … there was a board meeting. This male, who we believe is the shooter, was actually inside this meeting. … It appears as though he was upset about something that was happening in the company. He got in an argument with several other people in that meeting and, subsequent to that, he fired several shots at these males," said Deputy Police Commissioner Richard Ross Jr.
Ross said the apparent shooter was a black male in his 40s, and the victims appeared to be two black males and one white male.
Police believe it was an investment firm but were unsure of the business name, and they were still investigating the gunman's role in it.
"Right now, the scene inside the conference room is utter chaos," Ross said. "You have, unfortunately, three victims -- at least two of them on the floor and one in a chair -- all of who sustained gunshot wounds to various parts of their bodies."
Police said they exchanged fire with the gunman outside the meeting room and he then retreated back inside, where he apparently took his own life.
A fourth shooting victim made it to an office and called 911, sources said, before being rushed to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in critical condition.
"Obviously, this is a tragic situation, one that you always hope would not hit Philadelphia. Unfortunately, today it did," Ross said. "Our hearts go out to the loved ones of the scene right now, the ones who fell victim to this wanton violence."
The Philadelphia Navy Shipyard was one of the Navy's busiest shipbuilders during World War II, but since those years, much of the commercial shipbuilding industry has moved to Japan and South Korea, where production costs are lower.
After 1970, the yard only refurbished military vessels, and it closed in 1995.
Two years later, Kvaerner resumed commercial shipbuilding in a portion of the shipyard, and other areas have been converted for business and office use.
