Defense officials say the suspected Washington Navy Yard gunman was currently working as a defense department contractor, but it's not clear if he was assigned at the military base in southeast D.C.

Aaron Alexis
Aaron Alexis (FBI)
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Defense officials say Aaron Alexis, 34, of Texas, was working as an information technology contractor, but it was not known which company employed him. As a contractor, he could have had a badge that might have gained him access to the base. Alexis was a former Navy reservist, serving from 2007 to early 2011.

The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University also says he was an online student pursuing a bachelor's degree in aeronautics. He started classes in July 2012.

Twelve people were killed during the shooting rampage at Building 197. More than a dozen others were wounded. Alexis was killed during a running gunbattle with officers.

Gunman in Navy Yard shooting was in Navy Reserves

Defense officials say Aaron Alexis, identified as the gunman who opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard, was a full-time Navy reservist from 2007 to 2011 and worked recently as a Defense Department contractor.

He also prayed at a Buddhist temple, was taking online course in aeronautics and was involved in past shooting incidents which attracted police attention in Seattle and Fort Worth, Texas.

It was not immediately clear why Alexis left the reserves, who his latest employer was, or what his motives might have been for going on a rampage. He was one of 13 people killed during Monday's shootings.

Police in Seattle say Alexis was arrested there in 2004 for shooting out the tires of another man's vehicle in what he described to detectives as an anger-fueled "blackout."


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)

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