WORLD
US navy faces tough questions after it emerges man who killed 12 people in shooting spree had mental health issues and history of gun violence.
The US navy was facing searching questions last night (Tuesday) after it emerged that the gunman who killed 12 people in the Washington Navy Yard was given a security clearance despite a recent history of mental illness and arrests for firing guns in anger.
Senior members of Congress demanded answers over the failed vetting of Aaron Alexis and called on the military to explain how the 34-year-old former navy reservist turned civilian contractor was granted a "secret" level clearance.
As police finished formally identifying the victims of Monday's shootings, US officials said that as recently as last month Alexis had been treated in a veterans' hospital after hearing voices in his head.
Police reports also showed that Alexis had spent time in jail for disorderly conduct in 2008 and twice been arrested for shooting a gun in a moment of rage - in one incident sending a bullet through the ceiling of his flat in Texas after a row with a noisy neighbour.
"How could a man with that kind of a background end up getting the necessary security clearance for a military contractor to go into this navy yard?"
Dick Durbin, a senior Democrat demanded to know on the floor of the Senate. The FBI confirmed that Alexis, who was working as an IT contractor upgrading computers for the Marine Corps, was able to use a legitimate work pass to drive into the Washington Navy Yard, one of the US navy's five main command centres, and had acted alone.
The US navy announced a worldwide review of security at its bases on Tuesday. The FBI also confirmed that Alexis began shooting just after 8.20am armed only with a shotgun that he reportedly purchased legally in the neighbouring state of Virginia last week.
Widespread reports from witnesses that Alexis had been armed with an AR-15, the same semi-automatic rifle used in the Newtown massacre, were dismissed by the FBI, which said it had "no information" that he was armed with the controversial weapon. It added that Alexis may have picked up a Glock handgun from the scene after he began shooting.
Providing further details of the gun battle that ensued, police said that five "active shooter" units armed with AR-15 rifles had been on the scene within two minutes, and were outside the doors to building 197 inside the Navy Yard within seven minutes.
There were "multiple engagements" between Alexis and the police, added Cathy Lanier, the chief of Washington DC police. She said she was unsure how long it took until the final shots were fired but added: "I would say it's more than a half an hour from start to finish."
It also emerged that Alexis had been cited for misconduct eight times during his four year-career as a navy reservist, including one incident where he hurled obscenities after being thrown out of a nightclub.
While navy officials had tried to kick Alexis out of the service he eventually left of his own accord with an honourable discharge in January 2011. He was able to gain a "secret" level clearance from the Department of Defence and began work at IT firm called The Experts, which worked on navy computer systems.
He worked in Japan and at bases throughout the US before being sent to the Washington Navy Yard in the past week.
The victims:
The husband of one of the victims of the Navy Yard massacre said yesterday that her death "hasn't fully sunk in yet but I know I already dearly miss her". Kathleen Gaarde, a 62-year-old financial analyst, was among the dozen civilian employees killed as Aaron Alexis stalked the halls of the naval base's building 197.
Gaarde and her husband Douglas, also a former Navy employee, had just begun to plan for their retirement when she was killed. Mr Gaarde said: "Today my life partner of 42 years was taken from me, my grown son and daughter, and friends. We were just starting to plan our retirement activities and now none of that matters. It hasn't fully sunk in yet but I know I already dearly miss her."
Other victims included Arthur Daniels, a 51-year-old father of five, who was shot in the back as he and a colleague tried desperately to call a lift. The family of Sylvia Fraser, 53, did not receive confirmation that she was among the dead until 10 pm on Monday — almost 14 hours after the killing spree started. The remaining victims' ages ranged from 46 to 73.
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