The U.S. Department of Justice is asking for the public to assist with providing any information on the man believed responsible for killing 12 people and injuring up to a dozen more, some critically, in the Navy Yard shooting in Washington, D.C.
The FBI identified the shooter is is 34-year-old Aaron Alexis of suburban Dallas. According to reports, Alexis was recently hired as a civilian contractor for the Navy, but don’t say if he worked at the Washington Navy Yard where this unspeakable tragedy took place. On Monday, Sept. 16, Alexis was reportedly armed with a rifle, an AR-15, and a handgun when he ambushed the naval headquarters before 8:30 a.m. Investigators suspect Alexis may have used the I.D. badge of another employee to gain entry to the building, according to NBC News, leading to a false identification of the suspect earlier in the day.
Alexis has been confirmed dead. He was killed in a shootout with local and federal authorities about an hour after the tragedy was perpetrated, District of Columbia Mayor Adrien Fenty and Metropolitan Police chief Cathy Lanier state during a 4 p.m. press conference with reporters.
“He was tall. He appeared to be dark-skinned,” said a witness, according to the Washington Post. “He was a tall black guy. He didn’t say a word.”
Alexis was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas, where he used to live, in 2010 for discharging a firearm, reports nymag.com.
The 2010 episode popped of when Alexis fired a shot through the floor of his upstairs neighbor. “He said that he was trying to clean his gun while cooking and that his hands were slippery. He told me that he began to take the gun apart when his hands slipped and pulled the trigger, discharging a round into the ceiling,” according to the police report obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Mysteriously, officers on the scene found a gun covered in oil and a cleaning kit, the neighbor said she was “terrified” and believed he did it on purpose because of past disputes over noise. Police did not press charges against Alexis.
“He lived with me three years,” said his best friend, Nutpisit Suthamtewakul, in an interview with the Star-Telegram. He said Alexis had been working for a computer contractor. “I don’t think he’d do this,” said Suthamtewakul. “He has a gun but I don’t think he’s that stupid. He didn’t seem aggressive to me.” Alexis’s motive remains unknown.
“Oh boy, I can’t believe this,” said Somsak Srisan, the landlord at Alexis’s last known address in Texas. “He was always very polite to me … My feeling is if he was angry about anything, he didn’t show that to me.” Alexis has not lived at the Fort Worth address for six to eight months, he said.
Alexis, according to the newspaper, grew up in Brooklyn and also lived in in the Flushing section of the Queens borough within New York City between 2000 and 2002.
Police say grave danger remains. District Mayor Fenty said they cannot confirm conclusively that he had a murderous accomplice, but police and FBI agents continue to seek a black male between 40 and 50 years old with gray sideburns and wearing olive-colored Navy fatigues for questioning. Witnesses say this elusive man had a firearm on him.
The FBI is asking anyone with knowledge about the whereabouts of the alleged assailant to contact the FBI’s Washington, D.C. field office at 202-278-2000 or 1-800-CALL-FBI.
