Initial confusion over the suspected Navy Yard shooter
Investigators at the scene of the Washington Navy Yard shooting on Monday morning found the military ID card of a Navy man who had worked at the Navy Yard until Friday. They believed that he was the shooter that had been taken down in a confrontation with police that morning. FBI Agents were staking out the man's home awaiting a search warrant when a car rolled into the driveway and that man was found to be the Chief Petty Officer whom they had believed was the suspect. That he was alive proved he was not the suspect.
This changes a lot. It means the identity they believed they had of the gunman is wrong. It means that the possible motive -- troubles the man was having with the Navy and with family -- is not the motive.
The shooter was subsequently identified as 34-year-old Aaron Alexis from Fort Worth, Tex., according to a U.S. official. He is a former avionics electrician with the U.S. Navy. He had been arrested at least twice previously: once in Seattle for malicious mischief, and once in Fort Worth in 2010 for discharging a firearm in public. The motive behind the attack is still unknown.
