On Monday, September 16, a gunman opened fired on the Washington Navy Yard and has been identified as Aaron Alexis, 34 of Fort Worth, Texas. As of this time, there are 12 dead with the possibility of more victims.
Alexis was shot and killed during a shoot out with police officers according to Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier. During what Lanier described as an “engagement”, one police officer was wounded.
Lanier reported that law enforcement authorities have information that indicates that there may have been more than one shooter. Early on as the shooting was happening, police were searching for two possible suspects; however, one man they thought could have been a shooting suspect has been cleared of any involvement.
The FBI has taking lead in the investigation. A federal official revealed that when Aaron Alexis was killed he was armed with an AR-15, a shotgun and a handgun. Even though there is the possibility of another shooter, the federal official stated that there isn’t any evidence that anyone other than Alexis fired any shots during the attack.
Law enforcement officials are currently viewing surveillance video of the shootings and interviewing hundreds of witnesses.
Terry Durham was working in the Navy building when the fire alarm went off. She said she was trying to flee the building when she encountered the shooter.
Durham explained that, “We couldn’t see his face, but we could see him with the rifle. He raised and aimed at us and fired. And he hit high on the wall.”
Another witness, Rick Mason who is a program management analyst described that the gunman was standing on a fourth flow overlook outside of his office shooting down at people in the cafeteria below. Patricia Ward is a logistics management specialist who was in the cafeteria when the shots rang out. She reported, “I heard three shots, pow, pow, pow. Thirty seconds later, I heard four more shots.”
President Obama called the shooting a “cowardly act” and described the victims as “patriots.” He went on to say, “I made it clear to my team that I want the investigation to be seamless.”
MedStar Washington Hospital Center, chief medical officer Janis Orlowski stated that the hospital had three shooting victims, one police officer and two women. The police officer has sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his legs and was taken into surgery.
One of the women received a gunshot wound to her shoulder while the other woman received gunshot wounds to her head and hand. All three of the victims are expected to make a full recovery.
When reports of gunshots rang out at approximately 8:20 a.m. SWAT officers swarmed the building which is the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command. It was during this standoff that the shooter, now identified as Aaron Alexis was shot and killed.
The shooting today was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Twelve people are confirmed dead and the number of injured in the Washington Navy Yard shooting aren’t clear at this time.
Approximately 3,000 work at the building where the shooting took place and were told to stay in place while officers continued to search for more shooting suspects.
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