The Washington Navy Yard gunman who killed 12 today has previously claimed to be suffering from PTSD after helping rescue efforts in New York following the 9/11 terror attacks.
Gunman Aaron Alexis was shot dead by responding officers after he opened fire inside a Navy facility around 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning. Since he was identified as the shooter, reports have revealed that it was not the first time he was involved in a shooting. In 2004, he was arrested in Seattle for shooting the tires of a construction worker's car during what he later called an anger-fueled 'blackout.'
'He said that he didn’t remember pulling the trigger of his firearm until about one hour later,' according to the Seattle police report. Later he said that he felt the intended victim 'disrespected' him.
HOW EVENTS UNFOLDED
08.20am: Shots fired at Building 179 on the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters in Washington D.C. where about 3,000 people work.
08.30am: Base police enter the building following reports of an active shooter
08.40am: First responders arrive at the scene as loudspeakers are heard telling people on the naval base to 'shelter in place'
10.00am: The Navy reports one confirmed injury
10.06am: Roads and intersections closed around the Navy Yard as police cars and SWAT teams flood into the area
10.54am: Federal Aviation Agency grounds all flights at National Airport in D.C. due to Navy Yard incident
11.13am: First reports say three civilians, one metropolitan police officer and one officer on the naval base were shot
11.20am: Police report that a gunman has been shot dead
11.50am: Chief Medical Officer at George Washington Hospital confirms that they have taken three wounded – a police officer with bullet wounds to the leg; a female with gunshot wound to the shoulder; and a female with gunshot wounds to the head and hand.
Midday: Washington Metropolitan Police Department Cathy Lanier says that one shooter is believed to be deceased at the scene while there are potentially two other shooters at large.
The potential shooters were believed to be dressed in military outfits
12.15pm: Woman who was shot in head confirmed dead, by medical staff at George Washington Hospital
12.20pm: President Obama makes a statement calling those who had been shot at the naval base 'patriots' and expresses his grief at another mass shooting
The report states that his father said his anger issues stemmed back to his time in New York where he helped the rescue efforts following the September 11 terrorist attacks. The shooter's father told police 'that his son had experienced anger management problems that the family believed associated [sic] with PTSD.'
He was arrested in relation to that incident but never charged, an outcome repeated in Fort Worth, Texas where Alexis was living in 2010.
Then, he was arrested for discharging a firearm when his neighbor reported that he fired a shot into her apartment. At the time, Alexis claimed that his hand slipped when he was cleaning his gun while cooking at the same time, and that he accidentally fired the weapon. New reports also claim that Alexis was arrested for a second time in DeKalb county, Georgia and spent two nights in jail over a disorderly conduct charge but no further details have been released about that incident. No motive has been revealed for Monday's shooting, but speculation is growing his dismissal from the U.S. Navy for 'misconduct' in January 2011 may have inspired him to commit deadly revenge. The Pentagon confirmed that he was awarded the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal prior to his discharge in January 2011.
Family members of the Washington shooter are 'distraught' to learn that he carried out the massacre, relatives told MailOnline today. Despite the lack of an acknowledged motive, one U.S. official has been quoted as saying Alexis was discharged from the Navy in 2011 following a series of incidents of 'misconduct.' Law enforcement said that his identity was confirmed by fingerprints and that he served in the U.S. Navy between May 5, 2007 and January 31, 2011. A U.S. Navy spokesman said Alexis was an 'aviation electrician's mate' – ranked as a third class petty officer – and served at the Naval Air Station in Fort Worth, Texas.
He is reported to have enlisted in New York. The Brooklyn native graduated from boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois as an airman recruit.
Throughout the late 1990s until 2002, he was listed as living in Manhattan and Queens in New York City. He is still registered as a voter in New York City. Alexis, who worked as a civilian I.T. contractor at the military base in the nation's capital, entered the cafeteria of Building 197 just before 8:15 a.m. brandishing an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and a handgun, and began shooting. It is thought that he used an identification card belonging to another employee of the base to gain entry to the heavily secured building where he carried out his deadly attack.
The FBI said that after SWAT teams swarmed the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command, an officer shot Alexis dead. Witnesses said that during his rampage he appeared to fire at selected targets and not randomly. The FBI's Washington Field Office also said that it had 'all [it] assets out' in the field as they searched for one other possible shooter described as a black man in his 40s or his 50s. According to a deleted Linked In profile, Alexis attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and worked for a tech firm.
A former roommate from Ft. Worth, the owner of Happy Bowl Thai restaurant, told NBC News he had not seen the man in three months.
Police records reveal that Alexis was arrested for accidently discharging a firearm at his Ft. Worth home in September 2010. A witness who lived in a neighboring apartment told police that she heard a pop and then to her horror a hole appeared in her floor and ceiling. Alexis told police he was cleaning his gun when while cooking and that his hands were slippery. All charges against him were dropped.
Three people, including a Washington D.C. police officer, were admitted to MedStar Washington Hospital Center with gunshot wounds. They are expected to survive, chief medical officer Janis Orlowski told reporters this afternoon during an emotional press conference.
Hundreds of SWAT and FBI rapid response units descended on the nation's capital to deal with the situation which unfolded just before 8.30 a.m. this morning.
Witnesses described a gunman opening fire from the fourth floor, aiming down on people in the first-floor cafeteria. Others said a gunman fired at them in a third-floor hallway. As witnesses emerged from the building, a helicopter hovered overhead, schools were on lockdown and airplanes at nearby Reagan National Airport were briefly grounded. Security was beefed up at the Capitol, but officials said there was no known threat there. About 3,000 people work at the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters, which builds, buys and maintains the Navy's ships and submarines and combat systems.
Todd Brundidge, an executive assistant with Navy Sea Systems Command, said he and other co-workers encountered a gunman in a long hallway of their building on the third floor. The gunman was wearing all blue, he said. 'He just turned and started firing,' Brundidge said.
Terrie Durham, an executive assistant with the same agency, said she also saw the gunman firing toward her and Brundridge. He aimed high and missed,' she said. 'He said nothing. As soon as I realized he was shooting, we just said, "Get out of the building."'
Rick Mason, a program management analyst who is a civilian with the U.S. Navy, said a gunman was shooting from a fourth floor overlook in the hallway outside his office. He said the gunman was aiming down at people in the building's cafeteria on the first floor. Mason said he could hear the shots but could not see a gunman. Shortly after the gunfire, Mason said someone on an overhead speaker told workers to seek shelter and later to head for the gates at the complex.
Police and federal agents from multiple law enforcement agencies responded. Ambulances were parked outside, streets in the area were closed and departures from Reagan National Airport were temporarily halted for security reasons.
Among the wounded was a D.C. police officer, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.
A U.S. Park Police helicopter hovered over the building and appeared to drop a basket with a person in it onto the roof. Officials at MedStar Washington Hospital Center said two shooting victims had been brought there.
District of Columbia schools officials said six schools and one administrative building in the vicinity of the Navy Yard were placed on lockdown. The action was taken out an abundance of caution, schools spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz said. Janis Orlowski, chief medical officer at George Washington Hospital said that they have taken three people who are seriously injured but have good chances of survival.
The doctor said that all victims are conscious and speaking. She said the first male victim has multiple gunshot wounds to the leg.
The second victim is female and has been shot in the shoulder. The third victim is female and has been shot in the head. The hospital said that it is expecting to receive more of the injured.
Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is the largest of the Navy's five system commands. With a fiscal year budget of nearly $30 billion, NAVSEA accounts for one quarter of the Navy's entire budget.
The Navy Yard is along the Anacostia River in Washington, near the headquarters of the Department of Transportation and the Washington Nationals baseball stadium.
Credits: DAILYMAIL
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