Navy Yard shooting rampage kills 12; dead suspect is contractor
A police officer runs near the
scene of the shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday,
September 16. Authorities said at least 12 people -- and the suspect --
were killed in the shooting
Washington (CNN) -- A former Navy reservist with a
"pattern of misconduct" unleashed a barrage of bullets at the Washington
Navy Yard on Monday, killing 12 people and injuring eight others.
Employed as a military
contractor, 34-year-old Aaron Alexis began at the Navy Yard last week,
but worked at multiple Navy offices over the summer, according to
employer Homas Hoshko, CEO of The Experts, an HP subcontractor. Hoshko
said there were no reports of problems with Alexis at the other Navy
offices.
Authorities said Alexis was killed after an encounter with security.
If you have information regarding Aaron Alexis or the Navy Yard shooting, call 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit the FBI's website.
In addition to the dead
suspect, who authorities identified earlier, police late Monday released
the names and ages of seven of the 12 people killed in the shooting.
None of the seven was military personnel. They are Michael Arnold, 59;
Sylvia Frasier, 53; Kathy Gaarde, 62; John Roger Johnson, 73; Frank
Kohler, 50; Kenneth Bernard Proctor, 46; and Vishnu Pandit, 61. The
names of the other five will be released once their families have been
notified.
Eight people were injured
in the shooting rampage, Washington Mayor Vincent Gray told reporters
Monday night. Three of those were injured by gunfire, and the others had
other types of injuries, such as contusions and chest pain. Earlier
Monday evening, Navy Vice Adm. William D. French said 14 people were
injured.
Washington police are
confident that only one person was involved in Monday morning's shooting
at the Washington Navy Yard, and they are lifting a shelter-in-place
order for residents who live nearby, Police Chief Cathy Lanier said
Monday night.
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Authorities are still searching for more information about Alexis, and they're asking the public for help.
"No piece of information
is too small," said Valerie Parlave, assistant director in charge of
the Washington FBI Field Office. "We are looking to learn everything we
can about his recent movements, his contacts and associates."
Even as the FBI ruled
out any other shooters in the rampage at the headquarters for Naval Sea
Systems Command, Metropolitan Police were trying to track down at least
one person to determine whether that individual had any involvement.
"We'll continue to seek
information about what the motive is. We don't have any reason at this
stage to suspect terrorism," Gray told reporters, "but certainly it has
not been ruled out."
The other possible
suspect was described by police as a black male, between 40 and 50,
wearing an "olive drab-colored" military-style uniform.
"We still don't know all
the facts. But we do know that several people have been shot and some
have been killed," President Barack Obama said Monday afternoon. "So we
are confronting yet another mass shooting. And today it happened on a
military installation in our nation's capital."
Obama called the shooting a "cowardly act" that targeted military and civilians serving their country.
"They know the dangers
of serving abroad," he said, "but today they faced the unimaginable
violence that we wouldn't have expected here at home."
Witness: People pushed their way out of building
The violence started unfolding at 8:20 a.m. when several shots were fired inside the southeast Washington facility.
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D.C. Metropolitan Police
officials told CNN that Alexis drove onto the installation and parked
before walking a short distance to Building 197. Once inside, according
to the official, Alexis made his way to an overlook above the atrium and
opened fire.
Alexis was armed with an
AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, a 9mm handgun and another rifle, the
official said. He was believed to have used the AR-15 during most of the
attack, the official said.
Two witnesses told CNN affiliate WJLA-TV
that they heard a fire alarm go off in the building where they worked,
then saw a man with a rifle down the hallway as they exited the
building.
"He aimed the gun and fired our way," Todd Brundidge told WJLA.
People frantically ran down stairs to get out of the building, Brundidge said.
"They were pushing. They
were shoving. People were falling down," he told WJLA. "As we came
outside, people were climbing the wall trying to get over the wall to
get out. .... It was just crazy."
The injured included a
Washington police officer who has been hospitalized and a base security
guard officer, said Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Saray
Leon.
Three people, including
the D.C. police officer, were admitted to MedStar Washington Hospital
Center with multiple gunshot wounds. They are expected to survive, chief
medical officer Janis Orlowski told reporters.
One person was
pronounced dead at George Washington University Hospital, according to
Dr. Babak Sarani, chief of trauma and acute care there.
Details emerge about suspect
Shooting at Washington Navy Yard
The FBI said it identified Alexis using fingerprints and ID.
He was in the Navy's
ready reserve, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told CNN. In the past, he was an
enlisted petty officer working on electrical systems. He was discharged
from the Navy following a "pattern of misconduct," a U.S. defense
official said. The military is reviewing his files.
The suspected shooter had an active ID and entered the base legally, according to a federal law enforcement official.
Outside Fort Worth,
Texas, friend Michael Ritrovato said Alexis had recently been frustrated
with the civilian contractor about a payment issue. But Ritrovato said
his friend never showed signs of aggressiveness or violence, though he
played a lot of shooting video games online.
"It's incredible that
this is all happening, because he was a very good-natured guy,"
Ritrovato said. "It seemed like he wanted to get more out of life."
In Seattle, police said
they arrested Alexis in 2004 for shooting out the tires of another man's
vehicle in what Alexis later told detectives was an anger-fueled
"blackout."
Government buildings, schools tighten security
Security was stepped up at the Pentagon in the aftermath of the shooting.
And at least eight schools went on lockdown as a precaution, the Washington public schools said.
Air traffic to Reagan
National Airport in northern Virginia, the closest airport to downtown
Washington, was suspended after the shooting but later resumed, the
Federal Aviation Administration said.
Officials postponed a
Washington Nationals baseball game that had been scheduled for Monday
night at Nationals Park, just a few blocks away from the Washington Navy
Yard.
The military
installation will be closed to all but emergency personnel and traffic
on Tuesday, according to the Facebook page of the Naval District of
Washington.
The Navy Yard is the headquarters for Naval Sea Systems Command -- the workplace for about 3,000 people -- and is the largest of the Navy's five system commands. It has a fiscal year budget of nearly $30 billion.
"With a force of 60,000
civilian, military and contract support personnel, NAVSEA engineers,
builds, buys and maintains the Navy's ships and submarines and their
combat systems," the Navy said.
Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington's congressional delegate, described the Navy yard as a "very secure facility."
The Washington Navy
Yard, the Navy's oldest land establishment, was created in 1799
following an act of Congress, according to the Naval History and
Heritage Command. Originally envisioned as a shipbuilding and fitting
facility on the Anacostia River, it serviced some of the Navy's most
famous early vessels, including the USS Constitution.
Burned during the War of
1812, the Navy Yard was transformed into a center for ordnance and
technological development. The facility was the world's largest ordnance
plant during World War II, but its military role steadily diminished
during the Cold War era.
Today, the Navy Yard
includes the headquarters of Naval District Washington and is home to a
naval museum. The area around the facility has been marked in recent
years by significant commercial and residential revitalization.
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