Update at 3:06 pm
From the Star Telegram
The man suspected of killing 13 people at the Washington Navy Yard, identified as Aaron Alexis of Fort Worth, left the Navy in 2011.
Alexis, 34, was found dead at the site of the Monday morning shooting in Washington. Police say they do not have a motive for the shootings.
Nutpisit Suthamtewakul, owner of Happy Bowl Thai in White Settlement, said Alexis was “my best friend.”
“He lived with me three years,” Suthamtewakul said Monday afternoon. “I don’t think he’d do this. He has a gun, but I don’t think he’s that stupid. He didn’t seem aggressive to me.”
Upon learning of his death, Suthamtewakul said, “ ‘Wait, he’s dead? I call him, but he doesn’t answer phone.”
Alexis had been in the Navy from 2007 to 2011 and was most recently stationed at Naval Air Station Fort Worth, according to Lt. Cmdr. Sarah Blansett, a Navy spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.
He worked as an aviation electrician’s mate, 3rd class, in the Navy Reserve’s Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 46, according to the Navy.
Friends said he left the Navy because he didn’t like to get up early and had complained about getting underpaid.
Alexis also worked at times as a waiter and deliveryman at Happy Bowl, customers said.
Alexis had recently visited Thailand and had been to Japan with a computer defense contractor, where he worked in information technology, said Sandy Guerra-Cline, a customer at Happy Bowl and copy editor at the Star-Telegram.
I could See His Face
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said at least 13 people were killed in the Navy Yard rampage as D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier revealed one shooter was killed at the scene and authorities are looking for another man — after a third was cleared of involvement in the attack.
Conflicting reports emerged of the dead shooter.
NBC reported the slain gunman was a 34-year-old man from Texas, who was a civilian contractor who stole a military ID to gain access to the Navy Yard. Authorities identified the dead shooter as a Navy employee whose work status had been changed earlier this year.
Authorities were still clearing the building early Monday afternoon.
Terrie Durham and Todd Brundidge, both executive assistants in Building 197, said they were shuffling people out of the exit on their floor when the shooter walked into the hall and started firing.
“I could see his face,” Ms Durham said. “He looked around and fired. We were lucky he was a bad shot.”
The two at large suspects were dressed in military garb but are not believed to be U.S. service personnel, Lanier said.
One was a young white man in a khaki like uniform and the other was a black man in his 50s with a long rifle in an olive colored garb, she said.
US Senate Shuts Down
The Senate is locking down its buildings for two hours due to the “uncertainty” surrounding Monday morning’s fatal Navy Yard shootings and “particularly the possibility of suspects remaining at large,” Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer announced in an e-mail to Senate staff Monday afternoon.
People can move around within buildings, but they are not allowed to leave Senate facilities, and no one will be let inside, according to Gainer, who sent the notice a little after 3 p.m.
Navy officials had reported shots were fired at 8:20 a.m. at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Southeast Washington.
D.C. police quickly deployed an “active shooter team” within seven minutes of reports of shots fired, Ms. Lanier said.
Two of the shooting victims are D.C. police officers.
Senators were scheduled to vote on a pair of judicial confirmations on Monday evening, but Reid said those votes will be postponed. The Senate will resume its business at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Reid said he learned of an “incident” at the Navy Yard on Monday morning while he was exercising, and knew something was occurring when he noticed Capitol Police officers carrying automatic weapons that they don’t usually carry in plain view.
