At least one gunman and potentially as many as three opened fire on Monday morning in Washington, DC at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Navy Yard, the shore facility of the U.S. Navy. Twelve were killed and several others injured, according to DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier. One gunman was also killed.
Shots continued late into the morning as a gunman apparently barricaded himself inside a room in the building where the shooting took place. The gunman is said to have had three weapons, including a shotgun, handgun, and AR15.
“We potentially have two other shooters that we have not located at this point,” said Lanier. She described one shooter as a white man between 40 and 50, wearing a beret and tan uniform, with a handgun. The other potential shooter was a black man, 40-50 years old, with grey sideburns, medium complexion, and wearing an olive-drab military-style uniform and carrying a “long gun.”
“We have no reason to think that these are military personnel, but they were wearing military-style uniforms,” Lanier said. In a later press update, she added that they have reason to believe the two others may have been involved.
DC’s Mayor Vince Gray told reporters that “we don’t have any reason to think that” this was a terrorist event.
Just before noon Monday, a spokesperson for MedStar Washington Hospital Center, where gunshot victims are being admitted, agreed that an assault weapon was used, saying, “It had to be a semi-automatic.…they’re talking about gunshots they heard in rapid succession.”
Police described a gunman to Al Jazeera as “male, 6 ft. tall, bald, medium complexion, black top & pants.” A report from ABC identified him as a “Navy official whose work status recently changed.”
NBC’s Washington affiliate reports that at least 10 were injured in the shooting, including a DC police officer and a base security officer. A defense official told AP that “several” people have been killed, while ABC reports the number at four. According to the MedStar spokesperson, the three victims admitted there are in critical condition, but she said their chances of their survival are “very good.”
U.S. Navy staff in and around the building were given a “shelter in place” order, but by 11:00 am EST they had been evacuated:
A Twitter user who identified himself a Congressional staffer posted this photo on Twitter, of a purported victim of the shooting:
CREDIT: Twitter user @timjhogan
President Obama addressed the shooting, prefacing his prepared remarks for the anniversary of the financial collapse on Monday. “We are confronting yet another mass shooting, and today it happened at a military installation in our nation’s Capitol…. we’re going to be investigating thoroughly what happened as we do so many of these shootings, sadly, that have happened.”
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