New Update: According to an official who spoke anonymously, one of the shooters has been identified as Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old Navy veteran residing in Fort Worth, Texas. He is believed to have a criminal record there and to be a holder of a concealed carry weapon permit. Alexis is believed to have gotten into the Navy Yard by using someone else’s identification card. It is not yet clear if that individual was an accomplice or if that person’s ID card was stolen.
Update: 13 people are reported dead and three are wounded and in the hospital. Although the authorities originally thought that as many as three shooters may have been involved in the Washington Navy Yard shooting rampage on Monday morning, the police now believe that it may have been just Aaron Alexis working alone. Alexis served in the Navy from 2007 until 2011 and apparently received a dishonorable discharge. The FBI appears to be largely handling the case at this juncture. There is no known motive for the shootings.
Click below to hear an FBI spokesperson address the the media:
Live Navy Yard shooting Timeline (EDT):
10:13 AMPolice: Three shooters in Navy Yard shooting
10:08 AMWhite House statement on Navy Yard shooting
10:04 AMPolice: 10 people shot at the Navy Yard
10:01 AMMore street closures around Navy Yard
9:56 AMFlights being held at Reagan National Airport
As hundreds of police officers from various agencies converged on the scene, officials at Reagan National Airport ordered all outgoing flights held.
Police on the scene said over ten civilians were shot, along with the two police officers. One is a D.C. Metro Police officer who was shot two times in the leg, police said. The other officer worked at the base.
A Navy Yard employee reached by telephone shortly before 10 a.m. said employees are still being told to shelter in place. She did not hear the shots, but described sirens, SWAT teams, Marines and a helicopter responding.
The U.S. Navy said that three shots were fired around 8:20 a.m. at the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters building, where about 3,000 people work.
Police closed the 11th St Bridge as well as M St SE between 2nd and 4th streets SE due to the shooting. Entrances to the Navy Yard Metro station remain open.
U.S. Capitol Police confirmed enhanced security at the Capitol, but no immediate threat.
Tyler Elementary School at 10th and G streets in Southeast is on lockdown.
As helicopters circled overhead and emergency vehicles continued to rush to the scene, crowds of onlookers gathered on sidewalks and at a construction site near the Navy Yard, but police pushed them back, yelling at them to keep a distance from the grounds.
One employee who declined to give his name said he heard “blam, blam” inside one of the buildings, then someone pulled the fire alarm.
“We aren’t going back on base today,” he said. “[But] there are still people inside.”
Reports began circulating around 9:30 a.m. that the suspect was “down,” but D.C. police said the suspect is still on the loose and “hiding between floors.”
Further Update: Dylan Stableford with Chris Moody of Yahoo News provides this further update:
WASHINGTON — There were multiple fatalities Monday morning following a shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, officials said. One gunman died in the shooting, and police are seeking two more shooters.
The Navy Yard was placed on lockdown after multiple shots were fired inside a building on the base, the U.S. Navy said. Over 10 people were injured in the shooting, including eight civilians, one Washington Metro police officer and one base officer, D.C. Metro Police said. According to the most recent reports, 12 people have been killed.
Ed Ziegler, director of public affairs for the Naval District of Washington, said two suspected shooters were pinned down inside the building. Ziegler said he did not know the condition of those suspects.
Janis Orlowski, chief medical officer at Washington Hospital Center, said one Metropolitan Police officer and two civilians are being treated there. All three are in critical condition, Orlowski said, but are alert, speaking and have a good chance of survival.
One was shot in the legs, another in the shoulder and third person was shot in the head and hand.
Orlowski said Washington Hospital Center is prepared to handle eight to 10 more victims, but did not know how many victims would be transported to the hospital. She said she had been told to expect more.
The Navy said shots were fired at the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters building on the base at 8:20 a.m., and a “shelter in place” order was issued for Navy Yard personnel.
Rick Mason, an administrative specialist program management specialist for the U.S. Navy, told Yahoo News he was on the fourth floor when he saw a shooter had a shotgun, aiming down into the atrium. The gunman, Mason said, was targeting people who walked into the cafeteria.
Other employees described a chaotic scene.
“We heard two shots and started wondering if that was the sound of someone dropping someone or if they were really shots,” Omar Grant, a civilian employee at the Navy Yard who was on the first floor of the atrium, said. “We heard three more shots and that’s when people started running out of the building and getting the hell out of there.”
Approximately 3,000 people work in the building, the Navy said, though it’s unclear how many people were inside at the time of the shooting.
A White House official said President Barack Obama had been briefed several times about the unfolding situation at the Navy Yard by Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco and Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromanaco.
A heavy SWAT and police presence could be seen around the Navy Yard, and a helicopter was circling overhead.
Employees could be seen huddled outside the base crying and holding each other. At least one of the victims was airlifted from the scene.
A ground stop was ordered at Reagan National Airport, and schools in the area were placed on temporary lockdown.
According to the Navy’s website, Naval Sea Systems “engineers, builds, buys and maintains the Navy’s ships and submarines and their combat systems.” Approximately 60,000 people work there.