During a news conference at 10 p.m. Monday night, law enforcement officials released the names of seven of the people killed in the Navy Yard shooting Monday. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Cathy Lanier and D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray announced additional details of the shooting investigation, which remains ongoing.
Officials said that eight people fell victim to 34-year-old Aaron Alexis’ bullets and incurred non-life threatening injuries. Three of the victims, including MPD officer Scott Williams, received treatment for gunshot wounds at the Washington Hospital Center in the District of Columbia.
The remaining five individuals received treatment for relatively minor medical conditions, such as chest pain, contusions and abrasions, and a head injury. All of the injured were civilian employees. No active duty military members were injured during the shooting.
Seven of the identified victims are: Michael Arnold, 59; Sylvia Frasier, 53; Kathy Gaarde, 62; John Roger Johnson, 73; Frank Kohler, 50; Kenneth Bernard Protor, 46 and Vishnu Pandit, 61.
Chief Lanier and Mayor Gray visited officer Williams in the hospital and reported that he was in “good spirits.” Williams is a MPD veteran with 23 years of service — currently serving as a K-9 officer — who suffered severe gunshot wounds to his legs. Agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) rescued Williams and moved him to safety soon after the shooting. Williams was one of the first officers to confront the gunman as he targeted civilian workers in building 197.
Soon after the shooting began Monday, law enforcement officials were on the scene. Within seven minutes of the first call for assistance, MPD Active Shooter Teams were deployed on the Navy Yard base. Multiple active shooter teams from the U.S. Marshal’s Service, U.S. Park Police and the FBI also participated in the incident response.
The FBI is actively investigating the shooting and processing the crime scene. The Evidence Response Team will conduct crime scene mapping and bullet trajectory analysis. The FBI also continues to piece together the movements and motives of Aaron Alexis.
According to the FBI, Alexis had legitimate access to the Navy Yard as a contract employee. He used a valid identification card to gain entry to the Navy Yard. At this point, there is no additional information as to how he had access to the weapons used the shooting.
At the news conference, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said that Congress will likely review security at the facility.
“There are many outstanding questions,” said Norton. “For many of us in the city, who have been plagued by gun violence, among them, is how someone managed to get a high-powered gun into one of the most secure facilities in the District of Columbia.”
Norton said that since the tragedy of 9/11, the District of Columbia has been one of the most protected and secured cities in the United States. “But we do not fool ourselves — Norton continued — we understand that in an open and democratic and free society you cannot make yourselves impenetrable, especially when there are more guns than there are people in the United States today.”
This article represents the original reporting of the author. Follow Don on Twitter @Don_ExaminerWeb.
