Wednesday afternoon, the FBI released a video of Aaron Alexis as he prowled through the Washington Navy Yard, armed with a shotgun. The FBI also released a timeline of the events leading up to the shooting.
President Obama, speaking Sunday at a memorial service honoring those killed last week at the Washington Navy Yard, spoke out against gun violence: “Sometimes I fear there is a creeping resignation…that this is somehow the new normal,” he said. “We cannot accept this.”
Aaron Alexis carved “Better off this way” and “My ELF weapon” onto his shotgun before the Washington Navy Yard shooting. The Washington Post notes ELF often stands for “extremely low frequency,” which could be Alexis referencing the military's conspiracy theory-magnet HAARP or his belief in "microwave machines."
The mother of Aaron Alexis, the man suspected of killing 12 people and wounding eight others in Monday's Navy Yard shooting, gave a statement to the press today condemning her deceased son's alleged actions and saying she is "so, so very sorry."
Two days after Aaron Alexis shot and killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard, investigators are still struggling to find a motive as a more complete, and disturbing, profile of Alexis's mental health problems has emerged, including a report that he believed men were following him with a "microwave machine" to disrupt his sleep.
Two days before he allegedly shot 12 people to death at the Washington Navy Yard, Aaron Alexis purchased a shotgun and ammunition at the Sharpshooters Small Arms Range in Lorton, Virginia. Alexis also used the store’s rifle range for practice. The store ran a federal background check on Alexis, which was approved.
Despite the best marketing efforts of the gun industry, law enforcement officials now say that Aaron Alexis did not use an AR-15 in yesterday's massacre at the Washington Navy Yard. All 12 of the murders were committed with the shotgun Alexis had bought despite his history of gun violence, or with the handguns he apparently took from victims who were unable to stop his armed killing spree with their own handguns.
More details have emerged about the troubled life of Aaron Alexis, the man who allegedly shot 12 people to death Monday morning at the Washington Navy Yard. In addition to his discharge from the Navy and multiple arrests, Alexis reportedly had a long history of mental illness.
Pentagon officials have said they will wait 24 hours before releasing the names of those killed in today's Navy Yard shooting. The Washington Post's latest report is that 13 are dead and 14 are injured.
The Seattle Police Department just released a set of documents better describing Aaron Alexis' "malicious mischief" arrest mentioned in the post below. "Mischief" sounds like what you did on Halloween in high school. What Aaron Alexis was arrested for in 2004 is quite a bit different:
Now (for now) we're down from three gunmen at the Navy Yard to maybe one, and the one—the certain one, the dead one—is on his second reported identity. He got 16 years younger between iterations, and is now a civilian contractor rather than a member of the Navy. Who knows where or what he (or they) will be in another hour?
Officials have identified Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old from Texas, as a gunman in this morning's shooting at the Washington D.C. Navy Yard. Alexis, who was recently hired as a civilian contractor by the Navy, allegedly used a rifle, an AR-15 assault rifle, and a handgun to kill at least 12 people Monday morning at the naval headquarters. Alexis was also killed at the scene.
With the death toll from today's Navy Yard shooting in Washington D.C. now at seven, including one gunman, police say they're looking for two other shooters "wearing green and tan military style clothing," one possibly carrying a "long gun." (Reddit is already on the case.) Reports that one shooter is a retired military service member named Rollie Chance are incorrect.
