Report: Navy Yard Gunman 'Gathered Weapons Along the Way'

NBC News reports that Aaron Alexis was armed with “an assault-style rifle, a shotgun and a handgun” when he was killed in a shootout with authorities. Law enforcement told NBC “they believed he arrived packing only the shotgun, which he bought last week from a gun dealer in Lorton, Va., about 20 miles from Washington.”  

The Washington DC local NBC affiliate says that sources informed them “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.”

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.

Alexis has had several run-ins with the law on firearm related issues in the past.  In 2010 in Fort Worth Texas, the police arrested him for discharging a firearm within city limits. The police report indicates that Alexis’ neighbor heard a ‘pop’ sound and found a hole in her floor and ceiling. She believed someone had shot into her apartment. The woman also reported she was terrified of Alexis, who had confronted her for making too much noise. 

“After reviewing the facts presented by the police department, it was determined that the elements constituting recklessness under Texas law were not present and a case was not filed,” said Melody McDonald, a spokeswoman with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.

In 2004, Alexis was arrested in Seattle for a more disturbing incident. On May 6, he pulled out gun a fired three shots into the tires of a Honda Accord belonging to a construction worker who “mocked and disrespected him.” Alexis told the police “he had an anger-fueled ‘blackout.’ ”  He also claimed he had PTSD from the events of September 11, 2001. 

The gunman was working as a subcontractor for Hewlett Packard for a company called “The Experts.”  He held a “secret” level security clearance (WHAT?!?) and serviced computer equipment at the Navy Yard.