Monday, September 16, 2013

The Navy Yard Murders

While the Washington Post is still reporting that there are other gunmen being sought, the Los Angeles Times reports that the D.C. police have stopped searching for others.  Details that the Los Angeles Times are reporting suggest to me that the dead shooter may have been recently discharged from his job:
Federal officials have identified Alexis, a government civilian contractor who was new to the Washington, D.C., area, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation. He may have used the identification badge of another person to gain access to the base.
Why do they say that?  My guess is that Alexis no longer had a valid badge.  Perhaps let go because of odd behavior or performance problems at work?  I fear that they may find "another person" whose badge Alexis used somewhere else, and not in good shape.  Latest from September 16, 2013 AP indicates that he used his own badge, so that theory is out. Also:
Federal officials say Alexis was arrested in Fort Worth on Sept. 5, 2010, on suspicion of discharging a weapon. The Tarrant County district attorney did not prosecute.
Alexis was 34 at the time of death.  He is the right age that if he started to lose his sanity in his 20s, this would all fit.

UPDATE: More from the Los Angeles Times:
The 34-year-old former Navy electrician’s mate identified as the gunman who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard had been discharged from the service in 2011 after multiple disciplinary infractions, a Navy officer said Monday.
If that was a dishonorable discharge, then he could not have bought any guns from a licensed dealer.  I see that the FBI is looking for more information about this guy.

UPDATE 2: More and more curious.  September 16, 2013 CTV News reports:
Two construction workers building a new home told police that Aaron Alexis walked out of a home next door on May 6, 2004, pulled a pistol from his waistband and fired three shots into the rear tires of their parked car.

Alexis later told police he thought the victims had "disrespected him" and "mocked him" earlier that morning after he discovered that his own vehicle had been tampered with. Alexis also told detectives he didn't remember firing his weapon until about an hour later, according to the police report.
 According to Alexis' father, he had PTSD problems related to rescue work he apparently did on 9/11.  But of course, in spite of being arrested and charged, there seems to have been no trial on these charges... which might have put his name on the "no guns" list.  Perhaps someone felt sorry for him because of the PTSD?   No, this September 16, 2013 Washington Post article indicates the charging paperwork was lost.

The September 16, 2016 Boston Herald gives more details on the 2010 Texas negligent discharge of a firearm charge, but this at least gives a plausible reason why he was not charged.

UPDATE 3: I suspect an epic fail for the gun control crowd is about to happen. September 16, 2013 NBC Washington is reporting:
When it was over, the suspected gunman lay dead amid an armload of weapons. Sources told News4 that surveillance footage showed that he began his attack with a shotgun, but was found with a 9mm pistol and an AR-15 assault rifle.

NBC News correspondent Pete Williams is reporting Alexis purchased a shotgun in Lorton, Va. during the past week or so.
 The suspected gunman appeared to have seized firearms from two of his victims as he moved through the building along the Anacostia River in southeast Washington, where 3,000 Navy employees go to work each day, many of them carrying authorized firearms.
So unless we ban shotguns...no gun control law would have mattered here. Disarm the Navy?

4 comments:

  1. Why hasn't someone in the administration suggested this wasa case of workplace violence? I guess that's when you stand on a table, yell "Thank God" (if you're a Christian or "Allahu Akbar" if you're a Muslim) before you start indescriminately.

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  2. It may well have been a case of workplace violence. I suspect that we are going to find that he lost his job recently, and was taking revenge.

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  3. I agree which makes my point even better. In the reports I read, there were comments that a terrorist motive was under active consideration even as the evidence that it could be related to employment issues whereas in the Ft. Hood incident, the administration was quick to dismiss it as workplace violence as the evidence that Hasan was a jihadist didn't mount but was exposed. Interesting juxtaposition...

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  4. "No one needs a pump shotgun", and I note many Europeans are very upset with the concept of pump long guns.

    Per one report it was said he bought a Remington 870 at a Virginia gun store a week ago.

    So clearly Biden is still cool, since he recommends multi-thousand dollar double barreled over and under shotguns....

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