Olivia Jessup and Abigail Pollock | Echo
Washington, D.C., police confirmed Tuesday morning the names of the 12 civilians and military contractors killed in the Sept. 16 shooting at the Navy Yard.
The victims were between the ages of 46 and 73 and were among the 3,000 people who work at Naval Sea Systems Command, CNN reported. The Navy secretary said Monday it could take a day before everyone working could be accounted for.
The victims identified were:
- Michael Arnold, 59, of Lorton, Virginia;
- Sylvia Frasier, 53, of Waldorf, Maryland;
- Kathy Gaarde, 62, of Woodbridge, Virginia;
- John Roger Johnson, 73, of Derwood, Maryland;
- Frank Kohler, 50, of Tall Timbers, Maryland;
- Kenneth Bernard Proctor, 46, of Waldorf, Maryland;
- Vishnu Shalchendia Pandit, 61, of North Potomac, Maryland;
- Arthur Daniels, 51, of Southeast Washington, D.C.;
- Mary Francis Knight, 51, of Reston, Virginia;
- Gerald L. Read, 58, of Alexandria, Virginia;
- Martin Bodrog, 54, of Annandale, Virginia; and
- Richard Michael Ridgell, 52, of Westminster, Maryland.
At 8:20 Monday morning, shots were fired inside one of the southeast buildings, according to CNN. The suspect, who was also killed in the incident, began firing with an assault rifle and other weapons, including a handgun. Officials told the Washington Post that not all weapons had been accounted for.
"We are confronting yet another mass shooting. And today it happened on a military installation in our nation's capital," President Barack Obama said at a press conference Monday afternoon.
Three of the injured are being treated for gunshot wounds at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, and are all in stable condition, according to CNN.
As the investigation continues, more details have arisen about deceased shooting suspect Aaron Alexis, according to CNN. Alexis had been discharged from his station as a petty officer in the Navy after a "pattern of misconduct," but was in the Navy's ready reserve, Mabus said.
A private contractor, Alexis still had an active ID he used to legally enter the base, said Valerie Parlave, assistant director in charge of the Washington FBI field office, according to CNN. He also had a gun record. In 2004 Alexis had been arrested for shooting out the tires of another man's car, and in 2010 was arrested for recklessly discharging a gun, NBC reported.
Washington police are confident that 34-year-old Alexis acted alone in the shootings, although they "have not completely ruled out . . . the possibility of another shooter," declared Washington Mayor Vincent Gray in a Monday news conference, according to CNN.
Following this announcement, the shelter-in-place order for nearby residents was lifted. Locations which had been on lockdown-including the Capitol building, Reagan National Airport and at least eight nearby schools-were also reopened.
For Lindsay Reusser, a 2011 Taylor graduate, the shooting happened about four blocks away from her home.
"It reminded me a lot of 9/11, because . . . it occurred on just a normal weekday. No one was doing anything wrong, everyone was where they were supposed to be, and just the fact that the shooters intentionally wanted to scare people," Reusser said.
Her family and friends began to text her, asking if she was okay, and despite her own safety she noted an eerie feel to the city.
"It's kind of like what the New Yorkers on Sept. 11 felt in other parts of the city. We were going on with life, and we were working, but it just seems so meaningless because a half mile away, people were dying, and people were meeting in the parking lot to find out about their loved ones, to see if they had passed or not," Reusser said.
Other D.C. residents interviewed seemed resigned at the possibility of violence. One couple, Barry and Carol Edwards, were in the city visiting their daughter when they heard the sirens, according to Al-Jazeera America.
"I think as Americans, we're less shocked and a little bit desensitized to be honest," Carol Edwards said. "I feel so sad for the people that died and their families but I wouldn't say I'm shocked by it. The state of the world is such. That might make me sound jaded, but it's just the way it is."
"Since 9/11, I just think it can happen anywhere," Barry Edwards added.
