A gunman, identified as 34-year-old killed twelve people, while wounding at least five others, according to DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier in a mass shooting spree at the U.S. Navy Yard on Monday, as reported by NBC News.
SWAT officers swarmed the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command.
The gunman Alexis was a Navy veteran, sources said. as reported by NBC News. Two other shooters, described as black and white males, are being sought by Washington D.C. The other two suspects have described as "a 50-year-old man with a rifle, wearing a drab olive military uniform, and a white man with a pistol, wearing a short-sleeved khaki uniform and a beret," news reports said.
The shooting reportedly began at 8:36, news reports said.
Terrie Durham, a woman who works at the Naval Sea System, said that she saw a gunman who appeared to be wearing dark fatigues when the first blasts rang out.
Todd Brunding, another employee there, said he heard a fire alarm go off, and saw a gunman come around the corner. "He turned our way and started firing, and we ran downstairs to get out of the building," Brundidge said. "No words. He raised the gun and started firing."
Many officers were shot, though it remains unclear how many were civilian or military, NBC News reported.
President Obama underscored that those who were shot were "patriots... men and women who were going to work, doing their job, protecting all of us... . They know the the dangers of serving abroad, but today they faced the unimaginable violence that they wouldn't have expected here at home. " he said.
About 3,000 people work at the Sea Systems Command headquarters, and is responsible for building, buying and maintaining ships and submarines and their combat systems, NBC News described. The Navy Yard is along the Anacostia River in Washington D.C.
Investigators are checking to see if there is a political or terrorist connection to the shootings, largely because it took place at the Navy Yard.
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