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Aaron Alexis named as gunman in Washington navy yard shooting Aaron Alexis named as gunman in Washington navy yard shooting
(about 3 hours later)
The man responsible for Monday's deadly rampage at the Washington navy yard is a former reservist who was arrested at least twice in the past for gun-related offences. The man responsible for Monday's deadly rampage at the Washington navy yard was a subcontractor and former reservist who was arrested at least twice in the past for gun-related offences.
Official records show that Aaron Alexis, 34, served in the US navy from May 2007 to January 2011. In 2010, while he was based at Fort Worth in Texas, he was arrested after discharging a firearm. In 2004, police in Seattle arrested him after what they described as an "anger-fuelled shooting". Aaron Alexis, 34, was discharged from the navy in 2011 after an incident in which an upstairs neighbour complained that he had shot into the floor of her apartment.
Alexis, whose home was listed as New York City, was a navy aviation electrician's mate third class from 1 February 2008 until he left the navy on 31 January 2011. He is listed as having received the national defense service medal and the global war on terrorism service medal. But Alexis recently found contract work with the navy. The compputer firm Hewlett Packard said it had employed him as a subcontractor on an information technology project for the US navy and marine corps intranet system.
In response to media inquiries on Monday, Seattle police said that during their inquiries into the 2004 incident, Alexis's father reported that he suffered from "anger management problems associated with PTSD, and that Alexis had been an active participant in rescue attempts on September 11, 2001". According to the US navy, Alexis, whose home was listed as New York City, enrolled in the reserves in 2007. He was a navy aviation electrician's mate third class from 1 February 2008 until he was discharged on 31 January 2011. He is listed as having received the national defense service medal and the global war on terrorism service medal.
In 2010, while he was based at Fort Worth in Texas, he was arrested after discharging a firearm. In 2004, police in Seattle questioned him after what they described as an "anger-fuelled shooting".
Seattle police said on Monday that during their inquiries into the 2004 incident, Alexis's father reported that he suffered from "anger management problems associated with PTSD, and that Alexis had been an active participant in rescue attempts on September 11, 2001".
The statement went on: "Following his arrest, Alexis told detectives he perceived he had been 'mocked' by construction workers the morning of the incident, and said they had 'disrespected him'. Alexis also claimed he had an anger-fueled 'blackout' and could not remember firing his gun at the victims' vehicle until an hour after the incident.The statement went on: "Following his arrest, Alexis told detectives he perceived he had been 'mocked' by construction workers the morning of the incident, and said they had 'disrespected him'. Alexis also claimed he had an anger-fueled 'blackout' and could not remember firing his gun at the victims' vehicle until an hour after the incident.
"Alexis also told police he was present during 'the tragic events of September 11, 2001' and described 'how those events had disturbed him'.""Alexis also told police he was present during 'the tragic events of September 11, 2001' and described 'how those events had disturbed him'."
According to a Texas police report, he was arrested in September, 2010 on suspicion of discharging a firearm in a municipality, but not formally charged. According to a Texas police report, he was arrested in September 2010 on suspicion of discharging a firearm in a municipality, but not formally charged.
The police report from the time states that an officer was dispatched to Orion at Oak Hill, a large, gated apartment complex in west Fort Worth, after a woman called the police and said that she believed someone had fired a shot into her apartment.The police report from the time states that an officer was dispatched to Orion at Oak Hill, a large, gated apartment complex in west Fort Worth, after a woman called the police and said that she believed someone had fired a shot into her apartment.
According to the report, the woman was "visibly shaken up", said that Alexis was her downstairs neighbour, and had "called the police several times on her for being loud. The police always said they didn't hear anything and no action was taken. She said that several days ago Aaron confronted her in the parking lot about making too much noise." According to the report, the woman was "visibly shaken up". She said that Alexis was her downstairs neighbour, and that he had "called the police several times on her for being loud". The woman reported that Alexis had confronted her in the parking lot about making too much noise.
The report adds that the woman told the officer "she is terrified of Aaron and feels that [the shot] was done intentionally." It states that the officer knocked on Aaron's door and did not receive a response, but he then emerged voluntarily after the officer called the fire department to get them to forcibly enter the property. The report adds that the woman told the officer that she was "terrified" of Alexis and believed that the shot had been fired intentionally. The report states that the officer knocked on Alexis's door but did not receive a response. He only emerged after the officer called the fire department to get them to forcibly enter the property.
"He said that he was trying to clean his gun while cooking and that his hands were slippery," the report says. "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." Alexis claimed to have discharged the gun accidentally, the report says. "He said that he was trying to clean his gun while cooking and that his hands were slippery," the witer of the report says. "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."
It is unclear if Alexis acted alone in a gun rampage that began around 8.20am, at building 197 in the navy yard. Police said on Monday afternoon they were still looking for a second suspect in connection with the shooting. In both instances, Alexis was not charged. Police in Seattle said the case was not pursued because paperwork had been lost. In Texas, it was determinded that Alexis had discharged his gun by accident.
Hewlett Packard confirmed on Monday night that it had employed Alexis as a subcontractor. It said in a statement: "Aaron Alexis was an employee of a company called 'The Experts,' a subcontractor to an HP Enterprise Services contract to refresh equipment used on the navy marine corps intranet (NMCI) network. HP is cooperating fully with law enforcement as requested."
It said the company was "deeply saddened" by the incident. "Our thoughts and sympathies are with all those who have been affected," the company said.
On Monday night, officers from the New York Police Department cordoned off a section of the tree-lined street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood of Brooklyn, where family of Alexis lives in a brownstone apartment.
A huddle of NYPD officers stood in the road outside the three-storey building, watched by a small crowd of reporters and TV crews. Earlier in the day, Anthony Little, the brother-in-law of the uspect, emerged from the house and told NBC4 the family were "distraught". He said: "It's a shocking experience. Nobody expected this. No-one saw it coming. No-one knew anything. So all of this is just shocking."
Little, who is married to Alexis's sister, said he had never met him.
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