UPDATE: 3;30 p.m. Aaron Alexis, 34, of Fort Worth, Texas has been identified as a suspected shooter. Alexis was a civilian contractor. He reportedly used the identification card of a former Navy Yard employee to gain entrance to the complex and the building.
UPDATE: 3 P.M. et – Police now say that at least 12 people were killed. Washington Mayor Vincent Gray said that no motive has been found for the murders but that the massacre was a terrorist attack.
“This is not over,” Rear Admiral John Kirby, the U.S. Navy’s chief spokesman, told reporters. “The building is still in lockdown, as are other buildings. Still being treated as an active search. No one is moving right now.”
UPDATE: 1:30 p.m. ET – D.C. police are searching for possibly two additional shooters at large, one described as a black male wearing khakis, a beret and carrying a handgun, the other a white male dressed in olive drab military style uniform, carrying a long gun. Authorities are saying that although the possible shooters are dressed in military style clothing, they are not believed to be members of the military.
UPDATE: 11:40 a.m. ET – there are multiple reports that a shooter is dead.
UPDATE: 11:20 a.m. ET at least eight people are confirmed dead by two police sources.
Washington and federal police reportedly have shot and wounded two gunmen and looking for a possible third attacker after they killed at least four people and wounded 8-10 others at the Washington Navy Yard in the capital late Tuesday morning.
One of the gunman, dressed in black and armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, had been holed up inside Building 197, the Naval Sea Command Headquarters. Approximately 3,000 workers employed in the complex rushed to shelters during the shooting. At least one of the shooters reportedly was wearing army fatigues.
The Associated Press reported that an eyewitness said the gunmen began shooting at the first-floor cafeteria from the fourth floor that overlooks the area.
Authorities shut down Ronald Reagan Airport as a precautionary measure, but flights since have been resumed. Area schools were placed on lockdown.
The Navy Yard hosts one of the Navy’s five system commands and builds ships and submarines.
The White House stated, “The President directed his team to stay in touch with our federal partners, including the Navy and FBI, as well as the local officials. We urge citizens to listen to the authorities and follow directions from the first responders on site.”
The Navy Yard hosts one of the Navy’s five system commands and builds ships and submarines.
Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/gunman-escapes-after-shooting-spree-at-us-navy-base-video/2013/09/16/