Surveillance Video Shows Aaron Alexis On Navy Yard Rampage
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The FBI has released surveillance video showing Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis moving stealthily with his gun drawn during last week's massacre that left a dozen people dead.
The 30-second video pieces together surveillance video from the morning of Sept. 16, showing Alexis arriving at the secure Washington, D.C. scene in a blue rental car, walking into the building and then pulling out his Remington 870 shotgun.
The video clip also shows Alexis moving through a hallway with his gun drawn and quickly moving up a staircase.
Alexis, 34, gunned down 12 people and wounded four others at a Navy Yard building before being killed in a shootout with police.
PHOTOS: Aaron Alexis Gun, Surveillance Images
The FBI also released pictures of Alexis' gun, which was etched with the words "Better off this way!" and "End to the torment!"
Alexis also scratched "my ELF weapon'' onto the shotgun he used in the rampage.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the Washington Field Office Valerie Parlave said Alexis held a delusional belief that he was being controlled by extremely low frequency electromagnetic waves, or ELF waves.
Records recovered from Alexis's computer and cellphone reveal paranoia and mental health problems that authorities are investigating as the root cause.
According to the FBI, a note found in Alexis' backpack left behind at the Washington Navy Yard read in part: "Ultra-low frequency attack is what I've been subject to for the last 3 months, and to be perfectly honest that is what has driven me to this,''
On Wednesday, the FBI said their investigation indicates that Alexis shot his victims at random.
"We have learned that there was a routine performance-related issue addressed with Alexis on the Friday before the shooting but there is no indication that that's caused any sort of reaction from him," Parlave said. "We have not determined there to be any previous relationship between Alexis and any of the victims. There is no evidence or information at this point that indicates he targeted anyone he worked for or worked with."
Alexis was born in Queens, according to the FBI. He was employed part-time doing clerical work at Borough of Manhattan Community College from 2001 until 2003, the school said.
Two days before the massacre, Alexis visited Sharpshooters Small Arms Range in Lorton, Va., about 18 miles southwest of the nation's capital. He rented a rifle, bought bullets and took target practice at the 16-lane indoor range, then bought a shotgun and 24 shells, according to the store's attorney.
The Navy said he obtained his security clearance when he enlisted in the Navy reserves in 2007, which was good for 10 years and remained valid after he left the service in 2011.
During his time of active service, the Navy said Alexis had incidents of insubordination, disorderly conduct and being absent from work without authorization, but nothing that gave commanders any clue he was capable of such violence.
Alexis also had run-ins with the law over shooting incidents.
In 2004, he was arrested in Seattle for allegedly shooting out the tires of another man's vehicle. He was arrested again in 2010 for discharging a firearm into the ceiling of his Fort Worth, Texas apartment.
After the shooting incident in 2004, Alexis told police he was present during "the tragic events of September 11, 2001" and described "how those events had disturbed him."
Detectives later spoke with Alexis' father, who lived in New York at the time. He told police Alexis had anger management problems associated with PTSD and that Alexis had been an active participant in rescue attempts on 9/11.
Last Wednesday, Alexis' mother read a statement outside of her Bedford-Stuyvesant home.
"Our son, Aaron Alexis, has murdered 12 people and wounded several others," she said. "His actions have had a profound and everlasting effect on the families of the victims.
"I don't know why he did what he did, and I'll never be able to ask him why. Aaron is now in a place where he can no longer do harm to anyone, and for that I am glad.
"To the families of the victims, I am so, so very sorry that this has happened. My heart is broken."
Three Department of Defense reviews are now underway, CBS 2's Tony Aiello reported Wednesday..
"We need to know how an employee was able to bring a weapon and ammunition onto a defense installation, and how warning flags were missed, ignored, or not addressed in a timely manner," Pentagon official Ashton Carter said.
One of those flags was waved last month. Police in Rhode Island were called to Alexis' hotel room. He told them he was upset by voices in his head, Aiello reported.
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