Texas Native Aaron Alexis Identified as US Navy Yard Shooter
- By Ginger Hill
- Sep 16, 2013
Update: Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old man from Fort Worth, Texas, working as a civilian contractor, has been identified as the shooter at the U.S. Navy Yard. Alexis supposedly shot a security guard with a shot gun, took the security guard's handgun and then perched on the fourth floor of the building's atrium, armed and ready, waiting for people to walk into the building.
It has been confirmed that 12 people have lost their lives.
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This morning around 8:20am, when most of the world was getting to the office, checking emails and sipping their morning “cup o’ joe,” shots were being fired inside the Naval Sea Systems Command in southeast Washington’s U.S. Navy Yard, only it wasn’t a typical Monday morning drill…it was an active shooter.
Described as an adult male, about 6 feet tall with a bald head and medium complexion, dressed in a black top and black jeans, witness inside the building heard the fire alarm, and as they made their way to the emergency exits, they saw the man with a rifle down the hallway.
“He aimed the gun, and fired our way. I couldn’t believe it,” stated one man who identified himself as Todd Brundidge.
As people frantically tried to exit the building, “everyone was going down the stairs. They were pushing. They were shoving. People were falling down. As we came outside, people were climbing the wall trying to get over the wall to get out of the spaces. It was just crazy,” added Brundidge.
The FBI, U.S. Capitol Police and the local D.C. police responded to the shooting by shutting down traffic, evacuating people and sheltering others. And, at least 6 schools were on lockdown just as a precaution.
Authorities have since released that during the shooting, at least 10 people were injured, two of which were law enforcement officers, a Washington police officer who is hospitalized and a base security guard officer.
A U.S. Navy tweet confirmed that there are “several confirmed injuries with reports of fatalities.”
The shooter is said to be injured and barricaded inside the facility.
At 11:13am, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent a team of 20 special agents in riot and SWAT team gear, the same team that helped apprehend the Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to assist with the situation. Helicopters hoover overhead with what appears to be a sniper peering out, scope at the ready.
(I’m thinking to myself, if the U.S. Navy is unable to respond to an active shooter, how can we expect our schools to?)
Sources: http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/us/dc-navy-yard-gunshots/
http://www.forexlive.com/blog/2013/09/16/reports-of-at-least-12-injured-in-mass-shooting-at-us-navy-facility/