Officials say alleged gunman among
13 dead was a former military
serviceman, as police search for
'person of interest'.
US authorities probing the shooting
spree at Washington's Navy Yard,
which left 13 people dead and eight
injured, have said that a lone
gunman carried out the killings.
Authorities said military
contractor Aaron Alexis, 34, of Texas,
launched the attack on Monday
inside a building at the US Navy
complex, spraying gunfire on office
workers in the cafeteria and in the
hallway at the heavily secured
installation.
Investigators said hours earlier they
were searching for two suspects and
urged Washington residents to stay
in
place until the search ended.
However, Washington mayor
Vincent Gray said on Tuesday there
was no evidence nor indication that
there was
another shooter, "even though we
haven't completely ruled that out".
Police chief Cathy Lanier stressed
that investigators now felt
comfortable that they had the sole
person responsible for the loss of life
inside of the base.
Lanier said that the "shelter-in-place"
warning to residents had been lifted
as the authorities were satisfied
there were no suspects on the loose.
'Another mass shooting'
Alexis was an employee of a
company called "The Experts," a
subcontractor for an HP Enterprise
Services military contract, Hewlett-
Packard said.
HP said the contract was "to refresh
equipment used on the Navy Marine
Corps Intranet (NMCI) network."
The FBI said Alexis used a valid pass
to get on the Washington base.
President Barack Obama mourned
what he called "yet another mass
shooting'' in the US, as the Senate
was locked down, a Major League
Baseball game postponed and a
White House celebration delayed
following Monday's shooting.
"It's a shooting that targeted our
military and civilian personnel,"
Obama said.
"They were patriots and they know
the dangers of serving abroad, but
today they face the unimaginable
violence that they wouldn't have
expected here at home."
Misconduct pattern
Alexis served as a Navy reservist
from 2007 to early 2011. The FBI
released a photo of Alexis, who held
the rank of an Aviation Electrician's
Mate 3rd Class and had served full-
time in a logistics support squadron
in Forth Worth, according to the
Navy.
"There is definitely a pattern of
misconduct during his service," said
a US military officer, who spoke on
condition of anonymity.
Police in Seattle said Alexis was
arrested there in 2004 for shooting
out the tires of another man's
vehicle in what he described to
detectives as an anger-fueled
"blackout.''
Alexis reportedly had expressed an
interest in Buddhism, friends told
local media in Texas, while his four-
year stint in the Navy was troubled.
Thousands of employees were
initially told to stay inside the
complex while multiple SWAT
teams searched for the shooters