Navy Yard Shooting: At least 12 Dead, One Gunman Killed, Manhunt for Another
The shooting at the U.S. Navy Yard in Washington has left at least 12 people dead on Monday, with one suspected gunman killed and a manhunt launched for another potential shooter, as authorities are trying to piece together details behind the incident.
"We have no indication of motive at this time," Washington D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said at a new conference Monday afternoon, Reuters reported.
The incident occurred at around 8:30 a.m. ET at the Naval Sea Systems Command, where around 3,000 people work. At first only four people were reported to have been killed, but that number has now risen to 12. Police confirmed that one gunman in military-style clothing was shot dead, but are now searching for another man who was potentially involved in the attack. According to Lanier, the suspect is still at large and is described as a black male in his 40s or 50s. Initial reports that there were two suspects at large were proven wrong.
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Details of the incident are still coming in, and there is still no information on the dead gunman or possible motives behind the deadly attack.
"We are confronting yet another mass shooting, and today it happened at another military installation, in our nation's capital," President Barack Obama said on Monday after he was informed of the news.
"They know the dangers of serving abroad, but today they face the unimaginable violence that they wouldn't have expected here at home."
Describing the attack, a civilian program manager with the U.S. Navy shared that the gunman began shooting from the fourth floor overlooking the hallway outside his office. The manager, Rick Mason, added that the gunman was aiming for people in the building's cafeteria on the first floor.
Other witnesses said that the gunman silently sprayed bullets using an AR-15 assault rifle at civilians and Navy members.
"We saw him hold the rifle, and we saw him aim it in our direction," one witness told FoxNews.com.
"We were looking, but he was down the hall far enough that we couldn't see a face. But we saw him hold the rifle and then we saw him raise it and aim in our direction," another added to WJLA.
The Navy Yard incident is the deadliest shooting at a U.S. military installation since former Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan killed 13 people in 2009 during a rampage in Fort Hood, Texas. Hasan has since been found guilty and sentenced to death.
