The Washington Navy Yard murder rampage: Prayers for the victims, their families

My apologies for not posting this sooner. Β Had a crammed full day today. Β Via the NYT:

WASHINGTON β€” At least 13 people, including one gunman, were killed, and the police were looking for other potential suspects, in a shooting Monday morning at a naval office building not far from Capitol Hill and the White House, police officials said.

One police officer was in surgery after being shot in an exchange of fire with a gunman, said Chief Cathy L. Lanier of the Metropolitan Police Department. The shootings took place at the Washington Navy Yard, in the southeast part of the city.

Senior law enforcement officials identified the gunman as Aaron Alexis, 34. He was identified through his fingerprints.

According to the Navy, Mr. Alexis enlisted as a full-time reservist in May 2007 and left the service in January 2011. He served as an aviation electrician, and the highest rank he achieved was mate third class. From February 2008 to January 2011, he was assigned to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 46, in Fort Worth.

The Navy said Mr. Alexis had been awarded the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Shortly after 4 p.m., the F.B.I. released aΒ β€œSeeking Information” bulletinΒ asking for the public’s help in learning more about Mr. Alexis. The bulletin, which had two photographs of Mr. Alexis, said he was 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighed 190 pounds and was born in Queens.

Valerie Parlave, the assistant director of the Washington field office of the F.B.I., urged members of the public to look at pictures of Mr. Alexis on the F.B.I. Web site and to call with any information they might have about him.

β€œNo piece of information is too small,” she said. β€œWe are looking to learn everything we can about his recent movements, his contacts and his associates. We ask the public to look at the photos of the deceased shooter.”

Three weapons were found on the gunman: an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and a semiautomatic pistol, an official said.

β€œIt’s hard to carry that many guns, so there is some thinking that he may have taken some of them from security or whoever else he shot,” the official said.

When loved ones join the military, you expect that if they are injured or killed it will be in the line of action and from the enemy, not deliberately from a fellow soldier, and certainly not on US soil. Β While the predictable left and some of their allies in the mainstream media are busy trying to find a link between the now-dead gunman and a Sean Hannity book, please keep the victims and their families in your thoughts and prayers tonight. Β  Their pain must be unbearable. May God surround them and provide them with a measure of comfort in the agonizing days, weeks, and months ahead.

Photo via Reuters
September 16, 2013: Police block off the M Street, SE,
as they respond to the shooting.
(Photo via Reuters)

Comments are closed.