WASHINGTON, D.C. — Monday, September 16, 8:20 AM
This morning loud gunshots rang through the Washington Navy Yard in Southeast D.C., killing 13 victims and injuring several others by shots to the head, shoulders, and legs. The gunman, included as one of the 13 dead victims (though it is now unclear whether his death was self-caused or brought on by the police) is identified as Aaron Alexis, a 34 year old African-American working as a defense contractor for information technology projects. Officials believed earlier that there was another suspect but as of now are acting upon the belief that Alexis acted alone.
The Washington Shipyard, located just a few miles away from the The White House and half a mile from Capitol Hill, has serviced some of the Navy’s most well-known early vessels and is home to the U.S. Navy Museum; thus, it is protected by a high wall that requires official identification for entry through checkpoints, which did not seem to obstruct Alexis.
Witnesses say they heard a fire alarm go off and saw a man with a rifle running down the hallways of the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters. The scene was chaotic: traffic was shut down; hundreds of people were crying, pushing their way out of crowds, and jumping over walls. Immediately following the shooting, eight schools were locked down, and all air traffic heading to Reagan National Airport was suspended.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The weapons found on Alexis included an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun, and a semi-automatic pistol.
Amie Sillah’16 says of the situation, “I’m just glad that they found the suspect as quickly as they did and that no children were harmed. I also think that the discussion on gun control will inevitably be brought up again.”
Significantly, Mr. Alexis has a known criminal past, having been arrested for malicious mischief in Seattle in 2004 for reportedly firing three shots at the tires of a Honda and calmly walking back home. Alexis blamed his actions on his post-traumatic stress disorder, developed after his rescue work in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
The shooting today at Washington Shipyard appears to be another one of Aaron Alexis’s rage-driven rampages, this one leading to his own death and the deaths of several other innocent people, including at least one police officer on the scene.
President Obama reflected on the bitter reality of this situation: “[Naval personnel] know the dangers of serving abroad, but today they faced the unimaginable violence that we wouldn’t have expected here at home…As we learn more about the courageous Americans who died today, their lives, their families, their patriotism, we will honor their service to the nation they helped to make great. And obviously, we’re going to be investigating thoroughly what happened, as we do so many of these shootings, sadly, that have happened, and do everything that we can to try to prevent them.”