IU student, alumni react to D.C. shooting

At least 13 people are dead following a mass shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., Monday morning.

District of Columbia Police Chief Cathy Lanier said police identified the gunman as a civilian naval contractor, Aaron Alexis, 34, of Fort Worth, Texas, who was identified by fingerprints, according to reports by the McClatchy-Tribune Washington Bureau.

Alexis reportedly used a friend’s identification to get into a building at the Washington Navy Yard and engaged in multiple shootouts with police before being fatally shot.

The neighborhood near the naval facility remained sealed off, with residents locked out and nearby schools locked down six hours after the first reports of the violence came in at 8:20 a.m. The U.S. Senate was placed on a preventive lockdown early Monday afternoon, with votes postponed.

The lockdown was later partly lifted. Because the attack happened at a military facility in the capital, there were immediate fears that terrorism might be involved.

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray told reporters there was no evidence one way or another suggesting terrorism, and he confirmed there was uncertainty about reports of additional gunmen.

“We don’t know for certain if there were other shooters,” Gray said.

At an earlier news conference, Lanier said two men, one white and one black, between 40 and 50 years old, were sought for questioning. The white male was said to have been dressed in a tan military-style uniform with a beret-like hat, the black male wearing an olive-colored military-style uniform.

Later in the afternoon, police confirmed that the man in the tan outfit had contacted authorities and was cleared.

The mass shooting also had an effect on IU students and alumni working and
living in the nation’s capital.

Jim Trilling, president of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the IU Alumni Association, said he was on his way to work at about 8:30 a.m. when he heard initial reports of the shooting.

Trilling said he had no idea it was a mass shooting until the afternoon.

“Of course my initial reaction was one of sadness and concern,” Trilling said.
John Glennon, an IU senior and intern with the U.S. Senate Committee for Environmental and Public Works, said he was on his way to work when the shooting occurred, but heard about it when he got into the office.

Glennon said people were unable to enter or leave the Senate building for a few hours. However, the U.S. House of Representatives was not placed on lockdown.

“It’s like a big bunker,” he said. “You feel pretty safe once you’re in the building.”

Vince Zito, a deputy press secretary for a United States senator and former managing editor for the Indiana Daily Student, said he lives in the Navy Yard district of Washington D.C., about two blocks from the Washington Navy Yard where the shooting occurred.

“Today’s incident is not representative of Navy Yard,” Zito said, in reference to the neighborhood. “Since I’ve lived here, it’s been an extremely safe place.”

Zito said he thinks his parents were probably more concerned than he was.

“Since I’ve lived in the Navy Yard neighborhood, I’ve felt as safe here as I do on Capitol Hill, partly because of the police presence, but also because of the adjacent Marine barracks here,” Zito said.

Trilling said his thoughts and prayers go out to those affected.

“These events, when they occur, are as heartbreaking regardless of where they occur,” Trilling said.

The FBI will take control of the investigation, Lanier said during a press conference, according to McClatchy-Tribune.

Three victims, including a police officer, were transported to MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

Dr. Janis Orlowski, the center’s chief medical officer, said during a press conference all three victims have a good chance of survival.

Lanier credited D.C. police and the U.S. Park Police for preventing even more bloodshed in the morning rampage.

“I think the actions by the police officers, without question, helped to reduce the numbers of lives lost,” Lanier said, calling the actions of first responders “nothing short of heroic.”

Follow reporter Matt Stefanski on Twitter @stefanskimatt.