DC - Twelve killed, 8 injured in shooting at Washington Navy Yard, 16 Sept 2013

[HMSHood]

Aaron Alexis could be an injustice collector, which is a common characteristic of rampage killers.

 

[scorekeeper]

USAToday is saying that he "was the sole gunman"

 

[txsvicki]

The guy sure had plenty of red flags before he did this, all involving guns.

 

[HMSHood]

So, he was angry about an old roommate and shot his tires out; he was angry with a neighbor who was too noisy; he was angry with not receiving his appropriate compensation....we all have things we could be angry about.

By all accounts, this was an angry man, caught up in his own self-interest.

I am now wondering if there IS another perpetrator/shooter. If everything is about how YOU have been hard done by, there isn't much room for others' complaints. AA could have connected with another disgruntled person, but that would be an amazing coincidence. (Of course coincidences can happen.)

The guy sure had plenty of red flags before he did this, all involving guns.

He was clearly angry and he can at times conceal from others.

 

[Strangeworld]

Did I read earlier that he legally obtained the weapon/s he carried in with him? I think that is one of the issues here. He should never have been allowed to own a gun after his arrest for shooting out the car tyres, and for the observations of him when he was serving.

I'm in Australia, and we had strict gun control legislation introduced after the terrible mass shootings in Tasmania (Port Arthur) in 1996 - 35 people gunned down by a sole shooter. We still have our share of gun-related crime, but usually it is illegal gun ownership. I have been to the US, and I do feel safer here, knowing that the average Joe doesn't own a gun, especially as there is such a strict requirement regarding criminal history, mental health, etc to obtain a gun license.

Illegal gun ownership is a difficult one for any government to police. But legal gun ownership is so easy to manage. I just don't buy the 'if only they all had guns' argument. Imagine a building full of guns going off - how many other victims may there have been?

 

[Isabelle]

I understand AA had weapons charges against him, but was he ever convicted of any of the crimes? Thanks

 

[Isabelle]

I notice his eyes are not symmetrical in one of the photos that shows the light reflex off of the left eye, but not the right eye. Seems like a lot of killers have weird eyes.

 

[Isabelle]

Maybe people who recklessly discharge weapons should not have charges dropped! It shows a lack of respect for the weapon and for others!

 

[MsFacetious]

Some witnesses said he was a poor shot? on NG dear God, what if he was a good shot?

21 people total were injured or killed, (including the suspect) but not all of them were shot.
12 were killed, 8 were injured, 3 of those injured were gunshot victims in the hospital.

So we KNOW he shot 15 people.
And he killed 12 of them. He killed more than he injured.

I think that is pretty good accuracy. If he was such a bad shot some of them would have lived.

(Fort Hood was 13 dead and 33 injured for comparison.)

Those people he "aimed at" he probably wasn't aiming at in the first place. :twocents:


http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/us/dc-navy-yard-gunshots/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Besides the 13 people who were killed, eight people were injured in Monday morning's shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington Mayor Vincent Gray told reporters Monday night.
Three of those were injured by gunfire, and the others had other types of injuries, such as contusions and chest pain.

 

[AngelWings444]

Great Article. Names some of the victims. None of the victims were military. This is becoming all too common. So sad. Senseless. There were no metal detectors at the yard? Crazy. Discharged from Navy for having problems, yet is hired as a contractor? Ridiculous! One hand doesn't know what the other one is doing. JMO


http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/l...r-at-Navy-Yard-One-Person-Shot-223897891.html

From Link:

NBC News correspondent Pete Williams is reporting Alexis purchased a shotgun in Lorton, Va. during the past week or so.

The suspected gunman appeared to have seized firearms from two of his victims as he moved through the building along the Anacostia River in southeast Washington, where 3,000 Navy employees go to work each day, many of them carrying authorized firearms.

 

[hollye]

I heard on the news this morning (NBC Washington) that AA was on a sub-contract with 5 other individuals, all of whom were staying at the Residence Inn. Authorities have been able to make contact with 4 of those individuals, but have been unable to locate the 5th. Has anyone else heard this? Are they still saying that they now believe that he was working alone?

 

[nursebeeme]

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/0...oting-aaron-alexis-profile-emerges-94103.html

treated for mental illness and hearing voices....

 

[Softail]

Last night I was watching bits of the news. Particularly about him being a contractor. I heard heavy criticism of HP for hiring him. I don't think the blame is on HP. I think the questions should be of the FBI.

Back in 2001 PRE 9/11, my company was hired as contractors (similar to HP) at the Johnson Space Center (NASA). All of us had to get FBI security clearance. Not checked by my company or the Space Center - THE FBI conducted the checks. We had one guy who could not get clearance because a family member had a misdemeanor pot arrest, and he was not allowed on base. NASA is considered a military base of sorts. Again this was pre 9/11.

I would think security checks on a military base are similar today, if not more thorough since 9/11. Not up to the Navy or HP to do. Someone screwed up. I'm thinking the FBI has some explaining to do. Just googling his name yesterday showed his prior arrests. :twocents:

 

[Gardenlady]

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/0...oting-aaron-alexis-profile-emerges-94103.html

treated for mental illness and hearing voices....

Good grief. And he was allowed to have weapons. And get clearance to work on base.

There seems to have been a lot of warning signs with this guy that things weren't right. :sigh:

 

[scorekeeper]

Background issues concerning mental health about says it all for me.

Prayers to the victims, their family and friends.

 

[Elley Mae]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/17/active-shooter-at-washington-navy-yard/

Hewlett-Packard issued a statement Monday saying that at the time of the shootings, Alexis worked for The Experts, a subcontractor on an HP Enterprise Services contract to refresh equipment used on the Navy Marine Corps Intranet network. The FBI said he had legitimate access to the Navy Yard "as a result of his work as a contractor."


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...gunman-obsessed-with-violent-video-games.html

snipped from link.

The two sides to Alexis's personality revealed themselves as he spent the last three years living in the Texan suburb of White Settlement.

The addiction to violent video games and guns was at odds with his devout commitment to Buddhism, which saw Alexis spending half the day every Sunday meditating at the Wat Busayadhammvanaram temple in Fort Worth, Texas over a period of several years.

The darker side to Alexis's character saw him playing violent "zombie" video games in his room, sometimes from 12.30pm until 4.30am.


"He never got angry with us. He was always very nice to us. He had a couple of issues with being black. He felt he hadn't been treated right, not by the Navy, just generally. He didn't have a lot of friends - me, my wife and family, and people from temple."

He always had the gun tucked in his pants in the restaurant but it didn't concern me because he had a licence.

But he did not believe Alexis had a grudge against the government. Mr Suthamtewakul said he saw mail that indicated Alexis was receiving regular cheques from the government for "some problem with his feet."

 

[Elley Mae]

I don't know how to take this sentence. It is written (I am not an expert in English so feel free to voice your opine) to me as saying that the 3 weapons were taken from officer's?security there.

Two federal officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that Alexis had an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and a handgun that he took from a police officer at the scene.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/17/active-shooter-at-washington-navy-yard/

 

[Gardenlady]

I don't know how to take this sentence. It is written (I am not an expert in English so feel free to voice your opine) to me as saying that the 3 weapons were taken from officer's?security there.

Two federal officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that Alexis had an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and a handgun that he took from a police officer at the scene.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/17/active-shooter-at-washington-navy-yard/

I interpreted it as just the handgun being from the officer at the scene. But it is worded strangely, and missing a comma if so! :crazy:

Edit - and I made a mash of my own sentence. Meant to say, if they were trying to say only the handgun was taken from the officer, they are missing a comma to make that clear! Or could have reworded the whole thing to be more specific.

 

[Gardenlady]

So a lot of these shooters lately are reminding me of people like that Michael Douglas character in Falling Down. Someone earlier described them as "grievance collectors", I think, which is a great term. The family annihilator types come to mind too - something happening to them at work or in personal life, one last straw on the camel's back, and they snap.

Add in what is looking like some sort of mental illness (voices, perhaps some PTSD), and it's a recipe for disaster.

 

[Elley Mae]

Sources say he carried out the attack with three weapons -- an assault rifle, pistol, and shotgun, which was recently purchased at a gun store in Lorton, Virginia, CBS News' Bob Orr reports.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_...on-alexis-sought-treatment-for-mental-issues/


Sources tell ABC News that Alexis, 34, recently bought a shotgun used in the attack at a Lorton, Va., gun store and that he may have gotten other weapons, including an assault rifle at the scene. As of now, there is no evidence of terrorism and the FBI believes he acted alone when he opened fired Monday.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/navy-yard-shooter-aaron-alexis-angry-frustrated-vengeful/story?id=20276128


It's looking like he bought the shotgun and took the pistol and ar from the officer/security at the navy yard. jmo