September 17, 2013 -- Updated 0234 GMT (1034
HKT)
Washington (CNN) -- [Breaking news update at 10:34
p.m. ET]
Besides the 13 people who were
killed, eight people were injured in Monday morning's shooting at the Washington
Navy Yard, 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 night, Navy Vice Adm. William D.
French said 14 people were injured. The 13 dead include suspect Aaron
Alexis.
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. Authorities have said
suspect Alexis, 34, was killed after an encounter with security.
The ages of those who were killed
in Monday morning's shooting at the Washington Navy Yard range from 46 to 73,
Gray said.
[Original story published
at 9:20 p.m. ET]
The FBI has identified the dead
suspect in Monday's shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard as Aaron
Alexis, a 34-year-old military contractor from Texas.
But authorities are still
searching for more information about him, and they're asking members of the
public for help.
If you have information regarding
Aaron Alexis or the Navy Yard shooting, call 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit the FBI's website.
"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."
In addition to the gunman,
authorities said at least 12 people were killed and 14 others were injured in
the shooting, which put government buildings on lockdown and sent police SWAT
teams rushing to the scene.
The names of those killed,
except for the suspected shooter, have not been made public, pending
notification of their families.
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," Washington Mayor Vincent 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.
Police spokesman Chris Kelly
soon described a suspect as an adult male, about 6 feet tall with a bald head
and medium complexion, dressed in a black top and black jeans.
He was armed with an AR-15,
which is a semi-automatic rifle; another rifle and a semi-automatic Glock
handgun, according to a law enforcement official.
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
As authorities investigated the
deadly shooting, across the country details began to emerge about the suspect.
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."
SWAT teams swarm
area
Meanwhile, at the Navy yard,
helicopters hovered overhead. In one chopper, there appeared to be a police
sniper peering out, with a scope at the ready.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives sent a team of about 20 special agents to the scene, a
law enforcement official said. The team was the same group that helped apprehend
Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the official said.
Emergency personnel, the FBI,
U.S. Capitol Police and local D.C. police responded to the shooting, shutting
down traffic in the area on the District's south side along the Anacostia River.
Some people were evacuated, and others sheltered in place.
Paul Williams, who works at a
nearby nonprofit, was headed to his office when he witnessed panic at the Navy
yard.
"I heard four rapid bangs --
bang, bang, bang, bang," he said.
At first, he thought it was
construction noise, but less than a minute later, he saw hundreds of people
coming toward him.
"I didn't know what was
happening. I just ran with them," Williams said. "Everyone seemed scared. People
were crying. People were being consoled and calling loved ones and family."
Government buildings,
schools tighten security
Security was stepped up at the
Pentagon.
And at least eight schools were
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 headquarters for Naval Sea
Systems Command -- the workplace for about 3,000 people -- 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.
CNN's Barbara Starr reported from Washington, and
CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Atlanta. CNN's Chris Cuomo, John King,
Deborah Feyerick, Evan Perez,Tom Cohen, Dan Merica, Larry Shaughnessy, Brian
Todd, Alan Silverleib, Susan Candiotti, Joe Johns, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Joe
Sterling, Paul Courson and Ed Lavandera contributed to this report.
Postagens
