Hawaii: A US Navy sailor shot and killed two people at the historic military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Wednesday, military officials said, before fatally shooting himself.

The shooter died from "an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound", the officials said in a press briefing, adding that a third victim is in stable condition after being hospitalized.

News agency ANI reported that Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria was present with a team of officials at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham at the time of the incident. ANI reported, "All IAF personnel, including the chief, are safe and unaffected by the incident."

The IAF Chief is at the US base in Hawaii to attend a conclave of chiefs of air forces of leading countries to deliberate on evolving security scenario in the Indo-Pacific region.

"The IAF Chief and his team are safe," said a spokesperson of the IAF.

Another official said while the IAF Chief is staying at the US air force base in Pearl Harbor, the incident of shooting took place in the naval base.

The two places are not close to each other, the official said.

According to CNN, the two fatalities were civilian shipyard workers. The injured person was also a civilian. The US Navy said all three people who had been shot were civilian employees of the Department of Defense. Lydia Robertson, a US Navy official, said the shooting incident happened at a maintenance area for nuclear submarines.

The Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam is a major facility of the US Navy and Air Force in the Pacific Ocean. CNN reported that in 2015 the base had a population of 66,000.

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam said earlier on Twitter that the three victims were all civilians working for the US Department of Defense. The names of the victims and the shooter were not shared.

"We have confirmed that two (victims) are deceased. One is in stable condition in a local hospital. I can also report that the shooter, who has tentatively been identified as an active-duty sailor assigned to USS Columbia SSN 771, is also deceased by an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound," Rear Admiral Robert Chadwick said.

"I join in solidarity with the people of Hawaii as we express our heartbreak over this tragedy and concern for those affected by the shooting," Governor David Ige said on Twitter.

"Details are still emerging as security forces at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam investigate."

Ige said the White House had contacted him to offer assistance from federal agencies as needed.

"The president has been briefed on the shooting at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii and continues to monitor the situation," a White House spokesman said.

The base, which was formed by the merger of Pearl Harbor Naval Station and Hickam Air Force Base, was placed on lockdown for about two hours following the incident at about 2:30pm Hawaii Standard Time.

An unnamed witness told Hawaii News Now in an on-air interview that he had heard gunfire near Drydock 2 at the base and looked up from his desk to see the gunman put a gun to his head and shoot himself. The gunman was wearing a US Navy uniform, the witness told the station.

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam is a combined US Air Force and Navy Installation located 8 miles (13 km) from Honolulu.

The incident comes three days before the 78th anniversary of the December 7, 1941 attack on the naval base that led the United States to enter World War Two by declaring war on Japan.

(With inputs from Reuters, ANi and The Week)