WASHINGTON - A US Marine shot and killed two colleagues before apparently turning the gun on himself at a military base in Virginia, US media reported early on Friday.

The shooting happened Thursday night at the Quantico Marine base in the state bordering Washington DC, according to media reports.

The suspect was a Marine who attended officer candidate school at the base, CBS News and other media reported, quoting First Lieutenant Augustin Solivan.

The gunman killed a male Marine, barricaded himself inside a barracks and was found dead later of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the reports.

A second body was found in the officer candidate school, Solivan told ABC News. The gender of the second victim was not known.

The base went into lock down immediately after the shooting, but this has since been lifted.