A defense-industry employee used his pass
to get into the Washington Navy Yard and went on a deadly shooting rampage
Monday, spraying bullets in the hallways and firing from a balcony on workers
in an atrium below. Thirteen people were killed, including the gunman.
President Barack Obama lamented
"yet another mass shooting" in the U.S. that he said took the lives
of American "patriots" and promised to make sure "whoever
carried out this cowardly act is held responsible." Despite a string of
mass shootings, Obama has been powerless to get gun control legislation passed
amid a fierce backlash from conservative politicians and the gun owners lobby.
The attack as the deadliest shooting
at a U.S.-based military installation since Maj. Nidal Hissan, an Army
psychiatrist, killed 13 people and wounded 30 others in 2009 at Fort Hood in
Texas. He was convicted last month and sentenced to death.
The motive for the attack was a
mystery, investigators said. Mayor Vincent Gray said there was no indication it
was a terrorist attack, but he added that the possibility had not been ruled
out.
This as
U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus ordered a review of physical security at all Navy and Marine Corps
installations in the wake of Monday's shooting rampage that left 13 people
dead, including the suspected shooter, a Navy official said.
The official said the Navy would first take
a "quick look" at installations to make ensure existing physical
security standards are being met. The second review will be larger and more
in-depth, the official said.
The attack at a single building at the
highly secured Navy Yard unfolded about 8:20 a.m. in the heart of the U.S.
capital, less than four miles (6.4 kilometers) from the White House and two
miles (3.2 kilometers) from the Capitol.
The gunman, Aaron
Alexis, received an honorable discharge from the Navy Reserve in 2011, even
though he exhibited a pattern of misconduct during his career, a Navy
official said.
Initial reports indicated that the man, had received a general discharge from the reserve, a category
that suggests misconduct. But the Navy official said Alexis had applied
for and received an honorable discharge under the early enlisted
transition program.
A military official said before
discharging him honorably, the military had been pursuing a general
discharge against Alexis on a series of eight to 10 misconduct charges,
ranging from traffic offenses to disorderly conduct.
This as investigators said that the gunman, whose
last known address was in Fort Worth, Texas, died after a running gunbattle
inside the building with police, investigators said.
He carried three weapons: an AR-15
assault rifle, a shotgun, and a handgun that he took from a police officer at
the scene, according to two federal law enforcement officials who spoke on
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the
investigation.
For much of the day, authorities said
they were looking for a possible second attacker who may have been disguised in
an olive-drab military-style uniform.
The FBI took charge of the
investigation.
In addition to those killed eight
people were hurt three of them shot and wounded, according to the mayor. Those
three were a police officer and two female civilians, authorities said. They
were all expected to survive.
The dead ranged in age from 46 to 73,
according to the mayor. A number of the victims were civilian employees and
contractors, rather than active-duty military personnel, the police chief said.
At the time of the rampage, Alexis was
an information technology employee with The Experts, a company that was a
Defense Department subcontractor on a Navy-Marine Corps computer project,
authorities said.
Valerie Parlave, head of the FBI's
field office in Washington, said Alexis had legitimate access to the base as a
defense contractor and used a valid pass.
Alexis had been a full-time Navy
reservist from 2007 to early 2011, leaving as a petty officer third class, the
Navy said. It did not say why he left. He had been an aviation electrician's
mate with a unit in Fort Worth.
AP/REUTERS
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