Washington navy yard employees return to work three days after shooting

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/19/washington-navy-yard-reopens-shooting

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The Washington navy yard reopened on Thursday, three days after the mass shooting that left 13 people dead and eight more injured at the oldest military installation in the United States.

As employees returned to work for the first time since the shootings, more details emerged about the perpetrator's encounters with law enforcement agencies in recent years. None of the incidents appeared to have been serious enough to revoke the security clearances awarded to Aaron Alexis, 34, a former navy reservist who had returned to work for the military as a contractor.

Separately, Capitol police were investigating reports that a tactical unit, which was near the navy yard when the shootings began, on Monday, had been stood down.

As concern intensified over the state of Alexis's mental health and the ease with which he was able to acquire a shotgun, navy yard employees returned to their normal working patterns.

There was no additional security in place at the site, although several workers said Building 197, where the shootings took place, would not be open again for several weeks. "To me it is surprising how quickly everything seems to be returning to normal," said Brian Collins, 54, who works for the navy housing division.

"I wasn't here on the day but my co-workers said there was very little information on Monday, and no one really knew what was happening. They looked out the window and could see people running but nobody really knew what was going on," Collins said.

A woman who worked in the navy legal office said employees were told on Wednesday night they could return to work. "To be honest I think it is all quite soon, as I know co-workers who are pretty shook up. But I guess it shows a message that we're not going to be beaten by this kind of thing," she said.

On Thursday it emerged that US Capitol police had ordered an investigation into its response to the shooting. A BBC report had suggested that a specially trained and equipped tactical response team were at the navy yard shortly after the shootings began, but were stood down by a supervisor.

The principal responsibility of the Capitol police is to guard the US Congress and its associated buildings, which are only a few miles from the navy yard. The Senate sergeant-at-arms, Terrance Gainer, told the Associated Press that it would be an "unbearable failure" if the BBC's reports were accurate. A local TV station, WUSA-9, said members of the Capitol police containment and emergency response team were "furious" and were "convinced they could have saved lives".

Meanwhile, police reports from Texas, obtained by the Guardian, showed that Aaron Alexis had been accused of tampering with the petrol tank of his former employer's car two months ago.

Alexis worked at the Happy Bowl Thai restaurant in Fort Worth on and off for three years before the shooting. The owner, Nutpisit Suthamtewakul, had told reporters that Alexis was his "best friend" and was the best man at his wedding. Suthamtewakul he and the former navy reservist had lived together for three years before Alexis moved out this summer after Suthamtewakul got married.

A Fort Worth police department report, released to the Guardian after a public information act request, shows that the relationship between the two men had soured.<br /> <br />According to the report, filed on 5 July, Suthamtewakul accused Alexis of putting an unknown substance in his car's gas tank in an attempt to damage the vehicle. Suthamtewakul said his car had begun "running very roughly" the day after an argument with Alexis. He noticed the car's fuel cap was damaged and there was a light coating of dust around the entrance to the fuel tank.<br /> <br />The report said that Suthamteakul and his wife made it clear that Alexis "will need to find somewhere else to live.". It said: "Another confrontation with [Alexis] had occurred on the previous day, with [Alexis] becoming increasingly hostile."

In a Texas report from June 2011, Suthamtewakul and Alexis are listed as witnesses to an assault on a woman said to be Alexis's girlfriend. A row had broke between Alexis and another man, Monty Peterson, after Peterson "took an aggressive stance" towards Sita Lammala, who had recently moved to the US.

Alexis punched Peterson in the face, according to the report, after Peterson swung at him. Peterson was issued a general complaint citation following the incident.

The incidents seem to match a pattern of aggressive behaviour in recent months and years. Alexis was arrested by police in Texas, in 2010, after he fired through the ceiling into his upstairs neighbour's apartment in an apparent dispute over noise. He was also detained in Seattle, in 2004, when he shot the tyres of a construction worker's car. Alexis said the worker had been mocking him. Neither incident led to charges.

More recently, Alexis had called police on 7 August in Rhode Island, where he had been hired as a naval contractor, and told officers he had got into an argument with a man who had subsequently sent three people to follow and harass him. Alexis told police that he changed hotels after hearing voices talking to him through a wall.

Defense secretary Chuck Hagel ordered two reviews of military security and employee screening programs following the shooting. Hagel said "a lot of red flags" may have been missed in background checks on Alexis, who bought a shotgun and ammunition from a store in Virginia 48 hours before the killing spree.

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