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Breaking: 12 Fatalities in Washington Navy Yard Shooting, Gunman Identified

Published Sep 16, 2013 4:25 PM by The Maritime Executive

Update 4:15pm A gunman has been identified in this shooting. 34-year-old Aaron Alexis is among the 12 dead, he recently began working as a civilian contractor at the naval yard. It is believed that the shooter used the identification of a man who used to work at Navy Yard. That ID was discovered next to the gunman's body in Building 197, where most of the victims were shot on the third and fourth floors.

Survellance video shows the gunman entering the building at the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters with a shotgun and shooting the security guard in the head. He continued through the building, targeting other victims. He was eventually shot by a FBI hostage response team. Witnesses did confirm that the assailant was seen with a semiautomatic 9 mm pistol and an AR-15 assault rifle.

Three hospitalized victims are expected to survive, all are alert and speaking.

Update 3:05pm 12 people have been confirmed dead in the tragic Washington Navy Yard shooting, including two police officers, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced at a 2 p.m. news conference. Shortly after descriptions of two suspects were detailed, one man was found and cleared, leaving officials still unclear as to if this was the act of one shooter or more. The other possible suspect, who has not been located, is described as a black man in his 40s with gray sideburns, wearing an olive-drab military-style uniform.

Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, the chief of Naval Operations, was evacuated from his residence at the Navy Yard complex shortly after the first report of shots fired, Navy officials said.

The U.S. Coast Guard captain of the port has established a temporary safety and security zone in response to the shooting. The safety and security zone will be in effect for an undetermined amount of time and will limit all navigation on the Anacostia River from Haines Point to the John Philip Sousa Bridge. Entering or operating in the security zone is prohibited unless authorized by the captain of the port of Baltimore. Vessels already at berth, mooring or anchor are not required to depart the security zone.

"This zone is necessary to safeguard persons and property from events unfolding at the Washington Navy Yard," said Lt. Cmdr. Richard Armstrong, the chief of Incident Management at Coast Guard Sector Baltimore. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those persons and families involved in today's incident."

Update 1:20pm - Washington, D.C Police Chief Cathy Lanier reported that one suspect is dead, but two other suspects have not been located yet.  Both suspects are male. One of the men was white and was last seen at "around 8.35am this morning with a handgun," she said. The second man was black, around 50-years-old, and was carrying a rifle. The President has promised to bring the shooters to justice, in a mid-day news conference, "We will honor their service to the nation we helped to make great," Obama said. "Obviously we will investigate thoroughly what has happened, as we have so many of these shootings that has happened sadly." An eyewitness account has been posted:

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Update 10:18am - At least 12 have been shot and 4 have been killed, according to a Navy official. The shooter has reportedly barricaded himself in one of the rooms in building 197 and the injured personnel are all in critical condition.

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Several people were injured and there are reports of fatalities in a shooting at the Washington Navy Yard Sept. 16.

An active shooter was reported inside the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters building (Bldg. 197) on the Washington Navy Yard at 8:20 a.m. (Eastern Time).

Emergency personnel remain on scene and a "shelter in place" order has been issued for Navy Yard personnel. The Navy first informed the public of the incident in a Twitter message reading “#BREAKING: #USNavy confirms active shooter at Washington Navy Yard. More to follow.”

The Naval Sea Systems Command's headquarters is the work place for about 3,000 people. The organization is comprised of command staff, headquarters directorates, affiliated Program Executive Offices (PEOs) and numerous field activities. They engineer, build, buy and maintain ships, submarines and combat systems that meet the Fleet's current and future operational requirements.

Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is the largest of the Navy's five system commands. With a fiscal year budget of nearly $30 billion, NAVSEA accounts for one quarter of the Navy's entire budget. With a force of 60,000 civilian, military and contract support personnel, NAVSEA engineers, builds, buys and maintains the Navy's ships and submarines and their combat systems.