Washington D.C. Navy Yard Shooting

On September 16, 2013, shortly after 8 am, a lone gunman opened fire in the Washington D.C. Navy Yard, at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command, fatally shooting 12 and injuring three more people. The gunman, Aaron Alexis, a 34 year old former Navy Reservist and civilian contractor with security clearance, used a sawed-off Remington shotgun, which he purchased legally in Virginia just days before, as well as a 9mm handgun that he got from a security guard. He was shot and killed by the police at approximately 9:25 am.

Although Alexis's motive for the rampage remains unknown, there is no indication of either political or religious motivation. Official investigation however, reveals that Alexis was suffering a host of mental problems and had had multiple run-ins with the law enforcement resulting in arrests and charges of disorderly conduct. Despite his mental health problems and his pattern of behavior, Alexis received and held onto security clearance with the Navy, which allowed him access to the Navy Yard, and was able to legally purchase the shotgun he used in the deadly attack.

In-Depth Overview

Aaron Alexis served as a Navy reservist from 2007 to 2011 stationed in Fort Worth. He left as a petty officer 3rd class. In 2011, Alexis was discharged from the Navy Reserve after eight citations for misconduct and for what was described as a "pattern of misbehavior." There was, reportedly, a proposal to dismiss Alexis from the Navy with a general or less-than-honorable discharge for the multiple offenses, but he volunteered to leave early and thus received an honorable discharge. The reported incidents include a 2010 arrest in Fort Worth, Texas, for firing a gun inside his apartment because his upstairs neighbor was being too noisy; a 2008 DeKalb, Georgia, arrest for disorderly conduct; and a 2004 arrest in Seattle, Washington, for shooting out the tires of someone else's car during what the police called "a blackout." None of these arrests however, resulted in prosecution. After being discharged from the Navy Reserve, Alexis worked as a delivery driver and waiter at the Happy Bowl restaurant in White Settlement, Fort Worth, until May of 2013. Reportedly, Alexis had recently converted to Buddhism, and his former coworkers at the restaurant described him as a very nice and quiet person.

Alexis was pursuing a bachelor's degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University via online classes. At the time of the shooting, he worked as a civilian information technologist on a Hewlett-Packard contract to refresh equipment for the Navy Marine Corps Intranet networks in Washington, D.C.

Security Clearance

Alexis still held security clearance since joining the Navy in 2007. Both the Naval Yard and the building that houses the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters have extensive security and are not easy to access without proper identification, approval or clearance.

The fact that Alexis held security clearance at the time of the shooting initiated an investigation into the national security clearance system by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. Despite Alexis' multiple run-ins with law enforcement as recently as just a month before the shooting, he was approved for and retained the clearance. Reportedly, the background investigators who vetted him followed procedure, but did not have a complete picture of his past. For instance, the Navy's Office of Personnel Management conducted the investigation into Alexis's past and background in order to issue his secret-level clearance. Although Alexis was interviewed about his 2004 arrest in Seattle, the final report, which the Navy uses to determine eligibility for secret-level clearance, did not specifically mention his use of firearms in the incident, and he was issued clearance valid for ten years.

Alexis also received two non-judicial punishments in 2008 and 2009. In the first instance Alexis was absent from duty because he was arrested and detained for disorderly conduct outside a bar in Georgia. The second non-judicial punishment was due to drunk and disorderly conduct, but was later set aside on appeal due to insufficient evidence. Only the first incident remained on Alexis's service record.

Following the Navy Yard shooting, members of the Committee on Homeland Security expressed concern that the security clearance process was outdated and inefficient -- too much information is classified or is not communicated properly between the various agencies, and too many government contractors receive security clearance. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel acknowledged that red flags in Alexis's past had been missed, and ordered a review of the standards of granting and renewing military security clearance and of the screening processes for the military, civilian employees, and military contractors.

The Shooting

Just days before the shooting, Alexis legally purchased his shotgun at Sharpshooters Small Arms Range in Lorton, Virginia, using his out-of-state identification. It would have been illegal for the gun dealer to sell Alexis a handgun, but the Firearms Owners' Protection Act, passed by Congress in 1986, allows sales of shotguns and rifles as long as such out-of-state buyers show valid identification and pass a background check. Because Alexis was never prosecuted for the previous incidents involving guns, he passed the federal background check and bought a shotgun and 24 shells at the gun range store.

Authorities state that they do not suspect that Alexis targeted or even had any previous relationship with any of the 12 people that he killed, and neither is there any indication that the shooting was an outcome of any disagreement at his workplace. Video footage released by the FBI shows Alexis entering the building with a bag that concealed his shotgun. Reportedly, he also used a 9 mm handgun, which was later found near his body, and which he took from a security guard.

According to the FBI timeline, Alexis began his attack on the fourth floor, later moving down to the third and first floors, and again returning to the third floor, where he was shot and killed by the police at 9:25 am.

Alexis' Mental Health Problems

According to the FBI, Alexis etched the phrase "My ELF weapon" on his sawed-off Remington shotgun. In a note Alexis left behind, he explained that he thought that he had been bombarded with extremely low-frequency (ELF) radio waves, and claimed that being subject to them is what "has driven me to this." Just a month before that, upon being detained by the Rhode Island police, Alexis complained that people were sending microwave vibrations into his body and talking to him through the walls and ceiling of his hotel room all in order to deprive him of sleep. The police alerted authorities at the Naval Station in Newport, and forwarded a copy of the police report to them.

According to the officials, Alexis was suffering a range of mental problems, including paranoia and sleep disturbances, and had been hearing voices and thought he was being followed and subjected to harmful microwaves. Just a month prior to the shooting, Alexis sought and received treatment by Veterans Affairs for his mental problems but was not declared mentally unfit by the Navy, and thus retained his security clearance. Evidence recovered from Alexis's belongings and hotel room indicate that he was suffering from paranoia and delusions.

Under the permanent provision of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act that took effect in 1998, federal laws prohibit selling guns to ten categories of individuals, and licensed gun dealers are required to search the three national databases containing criminal history and other relative records. Among these disqualifying characteristics, there are three that would have been relevant in the case of the Navy Yard shooting, namely: having been involuntarily committed to a mental institution or judged to be mentally defective; having been dishonorably discharged from the military; and having been indicted or convicted of a felony. However, none of Alexis's brushes with the law resulted in conviction or dishonorable discharge, and his mental health problems were not reflected in his record. Moreover, in order for any mental health issues to be flagged in a background check, that individual would have to have been either involuntarily committed to a mental health institution or declared mentally ill by a judge. In addition, that information would have to be reported to the FBI.

As was the case in the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech, Seung Hi Cho was declared mentally ill by a judge, and yet that information was never conveyed to the federal authorities. Alexis, despite being treated by the Veteran's Administration as recently as August, was never committed to a mental institution nor declared mentally ill by a judge.

The 2013 Navy Yard shooting is only the latest tragic incident of a mass shooting, following the horrific cases of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting and the 2012 Newtown massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary school, that raise multiple questions about issues of mental illness and gun violence and reveal a pressing need for reevaluating and overhauling the nation's gun control legislation and the system of background checks and security clearance.

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