Navy Yard shooting: What we know and don't know

[chaya]

The one question we all desperately want answered may have gone to the grave with Aaron Alexis: Why

Comments

[tadashee]

I don't understand the weapons thing though. You're just allowed to walk in with 3 guns?

Also he shot the tires in 2004, but he was allowed to buy more guns after that?

[hammersxstrings]

he also was arrested (or at least taken into custody) in 2010, from what i understood, for discharging a weapon when he was being evicted.

i mean, it is Texas, so...i've heard their gun laws aren't exactly strict...

[chaya]

He did not walk in. He drove in.

[tinylegacies]

But he walked in to the building past the armed guards. I assume that's what the commenter was referring to.

[hammersxstrings]

i think my concern would be how he got into the building using a badge of someone who was not employed there any longer. i know you (OP) responded to me yesterday about how they sometimes give temporary badges to contractors who are finished their week or whatever, but in my experience (and by that, i mean the building/AFB I was working at), that has never been the case, and maybe they need to enforce more stringent procedures regarding their out processing services.

i agree with the security clearance part, at least in this specific case (i mean, usually they're pretty discerning with those decisions), especially given his previous issues; i'm surprised it wasn't suspended, i thought they were pretty good about being on top of that, but maybe that's for higher clearance levels...

[chaya]

This article says "and he used a valid pass to gain entry" - I don't know why it's so vague. Maybe they're no longer sure he used somebody else's badge, but it definitely sounds like he had his own either way, and he never should have had one with his history. Idk.

[hammersxstrings]

i think he had a badge to get on the base jfc the Yard, sorry about that, like a CAC card probably, but to get into the specific building, he would've needed another one? Idk, it sounds like multiple balls were dropped here

[chaya]

Not all bldgs require a badge/CAC to get in. I think this is probably the case as it sounds like it was somewhere serving food.

[muted_hitokiri]

According to BBC News, he had a history of mental health issues, including paranoia, hearing voices and trouble sleeping, but I'm not seeing that on CNN, unless I've missed something?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24129442

Edit: On closer inspection CNN do mention very briefly that he'd made contact with Vets hospitals for psychological issues, but no details at all and they move on immediately. Seems like that poster from yesterday's post might have been right about any mental health problems suffered by POC shooters being glossed over/ignored (I say 'might have been' because it could still change as more info comes to light, but yeah). :(

[vvalkyri]

One comment in my own journal was that this screams PTSD and fercrikey we have to pay some attention to this and be better about helpingour vets.

[happythree]

Why do the police so frequently release mistaken claims about searching for a second shooter? It's happened in practically every mass shooting in recent years I can think of, and it's very rarely accurate. I understand why victims might think there was more than one because of the panic and confusion, but idk why the police seem to go for it and release vague ass details (that sometimes result in the harrassment of innocent people).

[alexvdl]

I'd think that's more of a result of the media and their desire to sensationalize everything than the police forces involved.

[happythree]

Definitely, but the police do tend to confirm it, which is their choice, and one that doesn't make much sense to me.

[layweed]

People give "security" too much credit, imo. I work in a secure-ish building where everyone (well, anyone not in uniform) is required to wear badges and have them visible at all times. Frankly speaking, I feel like all they do is allow the security detail to track your whereabouts because you have to scan to get into the building and then scan when you go between locked areas. The security people don't really scrutinize everyone coming/going (though it's entirely possible they're trained to do so but don't show they're doing it) and I think a lot of it is based on familiarity. You see these people 5 days a week and you get used to seeing them around

[paksenarrion2]

Yeah, I work for a company that does business with the DOD (specifically DeCA). One of the guys I work with is a consultant that routinely visits the commisaries on base and has clearance and a badge to get on each base he visits. He and I were talking today and he said they just check his badge and wave him through. Granted his badge doesn't give him access to the flight lines, armories or other places like that. But it wouldn't be hard for him to smuggle some weapons on base and then go on some kind of rampage.

And according to this, the Seattle arrest was a charge of malicious mischief. Reading later through the story, it looks like he was never charged though. Even if he had been, it likely would have been a class 3 malicious mischief charge, which is a gross misdemeanor. That would have turned up on a background check but the arrest shouldn't have. And a misdemeanor conviction (apart from one involving domestic violence) is not a bar to owning guns either.

And the 2010 incident in Ft. Worth was hand-waved away by him saying