Cathleen Alexis, the mother of Aaron Alexis who killed 12 people in a rampage at the Washington Navy Yard, apologized publicly on Wednesday, expressing that her "heart is broken," and could not explain her son's deadly actions, the Huffington Post reported.
"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 happened," she said.
"This" being that her 34-year-old son opened fire at the Navy Yard around 8:15 a.m. on Monday morning, killing12 people while wounding 14 others. Alexis reportedly shot people with a shotgun from a fourth-floor overlook and third-floor hallway into a glass-walled cafeteria where employees were eating their breakfast, the Huffington Post also reported. After alarms were blared, a U.S. Park Police helicopter was called in.
"We just started running," Patricia Ward, a witness at the cafeteria, said.
"We have a report on the fourth floor, a male with a shotgun, multiple shots fired, multiple people down. We're still waiting for the OK that the scene has been secured," an ambulance crew member said on emergency transmissions, which was posted on Broadcastify.com.
Gun battles in the Navy Yard reportedly lasted for more than half an hour. As a result, DC police shut down the surrounding area and flights were also halted at Reagan National Airport, just as Alexis died in a shootout with officers, news reports said.
"What caused this individual to kill so many innocent men and women? How did he carry out and plan this attack? How did he get access to the weapons? What could have been done to prevent this tragedy? And most importantly, whether anyone else aided or assisted him either wittingly or unwittingly in this tragedy?", Ron Machen, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia asked on Tuesday.
"We're not going to stop until we get answers to those questions."
News reports said that Alexis had suffered paranoia, and heard voices in his head. Regardless, Alexis had been working for the Experts, a Florida based subcontractor for Hewlett-Packett, and granted secret clearance, which gave him access to the Navy Base.
As a result, President Obama ordered a federal review of procedures upon learning of these revelations.
Those killed ranged in age from 46 to 73, according to D.C. Police. Officials released the following victims names on Monday night: Michael Arnold, Sylvia Frasier, Kathy Gaarde, John Roger Johnson, Frank Kohler, Kenneth Bernard Proctor and Vishnu Pandit, as reported by NBC Washington.
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