26 thoughts on “Mass Shooter on the Loose in DC”

  1. Three shooters? That makes the most sense as a terrorist attack. But four dead, eight wounded? Only if the terrorists are really, really incompetent, or someone at the Navy Yard was returning fire.

    1. It does make sense if it’s a terrorist attack, and that location makes sense for one, but I can speak from experience in saying that these things spawn reports and speculation of multiple shooters for a while. I would also not be surprised by false “shots fired” alarms for a couple of hours.

      That being said, it looks like they may actually have a second shooter cornered somewhere, so “terrorist attack” seems pretty likely.

      Of course, whether Dear Reader lets anyone call it that is a whole ‘nother question.

  2. Notably that South East DC has lots of shootings. When black men die at night, one or two or three or four at a time, it doesn’t make national news.

    1. Actually, DC has done remarkably well on crime. There were only 88 homicides last year…compared to over 400 during the 80s.

      But you are right. They just had a rough few night with homicides.

  3. I expect this is a terrorist act. Like the Ft Hood shooting. After all there was a recent call for action from AQ Paki.

  4. I’m just chiming in because right now the media seems to be speculating on how armed men got into the installation.

    I have been there, though probably ten years ago. It was pretty much like dozens of similar installations I visited — at least to my recall — where I could check in without my car being searched. Once parked in a visitors lot, a gun could be taken from the trunk and an attack begun. I recall there being a number of low security areas that could have been penetrated easily by an armed person.

    FWIW.

    1. I can totally talk to this. I am VERY familiar with the area. I used to run there all the time. (as well as ft. McNair) All you need is a driver’s license to get into the grounds. Don’t know about the buildings.

      There is an excellent naval history museum on the grounds that I recommend everyone visits at some point (if access is ever allowed again).

      1. I wouldn’t get too caught up in to how they got into a building.

        Most of the buildings have lock,badges ect on them. However, if it is a maintenance are, motor pool or something along that line it is very easy to get in. If you are in a low/no security area, some people will hold doors for you.

        Also, the reports were saying shots fired from one building to another. It could have been a parking garage….

    1. My thoughts exactly. I’ve never in possession of a gun AND ammo while on base.

  6. What sort of deranged criminal mind would target DC?

    After all, DC probably has the least (legally) armed people per capita in the country able to fight back, with a majority of those people dwelling in isolated, thoroughly gun-free office buildings during a specified day and time period.

    No, doesn’t seem like a recipe for disaster at all.

  7. As I posted on facebook, while sitting in traffic I heard the same news station interview one cop who said the shooter was white, one who said the shooter was black. The one who said he was white said he had an AR15 assault rifle. The one who said he was black said he had a double barrel shotgun.

    Of course, it may be that there are two shooters. But this is a military installation so:

    1) DC Police have no jurisdiction and are not going to be allowed inside.
    2) Federal cops (Likely Park Policy, FBI, DHS, or something from the Military) will respond.
    3) See #1 and #2 above. If it comes from DC Police, dont believe it. They don’t have knowledge. If it comes from the federal goverment, it has a better chance of being true or based on reality).
    4)Everything we hear initially will be wrong.
    5) Traffic was briefly tied up, but I had no problem getting to my office just off the hill. Heck, once I got across the river there was NO traffic going down Independence Ave to the Capitol.

  8. 1) Not true. DC has about a dozen different law enforcement agencies. There are rules about jurisdictions where you can act anywhere in an emergency.
    2) Yes, but i’m betting the DC police responded first..and that’s what I’m seeing on tv. They are able to respond the fastest. In fact there is a station almost across the street.
    3)Only believe information from press conferences, regardless of who gives them.
    4) Yes

    1. The fact that the DC police are the ones able to respond the fastest – on a naval base full of weapons-trained-but-disarmed US sailors – is part of what makes seeing this in the news feeds sad and frustrating.

      Hopefully the DC police were better shooters than the NYPD.

  9. The Law Enforcement entity w/ jurisdiction on the Navy Yard, is Military District of Washington, Naval Police. They are DOD civilian police.

  10. Correction – that should be Naval District Washington, not Military District Washington

  11. Thing is if the guy worked there, he wouldn’t have been given a second look by anybody, security or otherwise till he started shooting.

    I’ve spent my entire career working on a military installation VERY similar in scope to the Navy Yard and on a good day, they’ll search one out of every 100 vehicles that goes through the gate. When you’ve got a large civilian workforce commuting in to work on a daily basis you just can’t maintain strict security without impacting base operations…

    1. Some bases in Virginia actually check all ID and do a good job of it. But Navy Yard has never really done great. They get so many people crushing at once through three tiny portals that will cause major backups onto the DC surface streets if things slow down.

      I bet they will check now.

      1. Here they check ID of every person that goes through the gate. Apparently this guy did work on the installation and had a CAC. With proper ID, nobody is gonna give you a second look till you start shooting…

  12. They are no longer looking for anyone but the single gunman, Aaron Alexis, and he is dead. This does not smell like terrorism so much as mental illness. Apparently, he has been in trouble before, in Texas, for a firearms discharge.

    1. Any more information on that? Not that I trust the media, but every story I’m seeing still says they’re still looking for a “possible second shooter”.

  14. DC Police can respond for serious issues. Their fast response team is understandably pretty damn good.

    Source: I used to work there back when we had a shooting in the neighborhood every week, drug deals on corners, syringes on the sidewalk and a garbage transfer site right across the street on 1st St. Cop cars were burned down the street because they used to have a repair garage there that would overflow, so at night any car left out would occasionally burn. Cops used to joke the only way to get new cars was to park them at the SE Garage. That really was not that long ago.

    So back then we saw the DC police, a lot. They were not prohibited from base, and the meshed with the military and contract guys real well. When a guy ran from the DC police onto base with a gun, the DC Rapid Team was on site and had easy access to all buildings, except those that had SCIFS (which went on lockdown once these things occurred).

    DC is not your typical jurisdiction.

    1. Yup, DC is not your typical jurisdiction. The more than a dozen LE branches, for the most part, work well together.

      There is a police station about a block away from the site. Homicide is there and I believe some swat, so they were able to get in there quickly.

      1. Dozen agencies?

        Wow! They shrunk the team!

        I never counted, but it sure seemed like nearly 100 to me. The Navy Yard actually sits above and abreast two Metro (subway) stations, and I recall seeing Metro cops not only patrolling the street above, but also talking to someone on base (only once). Back then they would pursue someone for eating food on the train.

Comments are closed.