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Nancy Grace

13 Dead in D.C. Navy Yard Shooting

Aired September 16, 2013 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: A horrible shooting today here in the nation`s capital.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard three shots, "Pow, pow, pow."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard someone say, It`s a shooting, it`s a shooting, go, go, go.

BLITZER: An active shooter is inside the Washington Navy Yard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Using military-style weapons opened fire, randomly shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He came around the corner. He aimed his gun at us and then he fired at least two or three shots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The shooting occurred in the Naval Sea Systems Command building 197.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we could see him with the rifle, and he raised and aimed at us and fired.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least 12 confirmed dead at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were quick shots, like, "Bam, bam, bam." A few seconds later, "bam, bam, bam." And I just started running.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She saw what essentially was pandemonium inside there. She said there she saw one woman who was in physical distress. She thought that woman might have been having a heart attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And one shooter has been shot and is dead.

BLITZER: Potentially, they are on the lookout for two other shooters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Possible additional shooters. What have you learned?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s now only potentially one shooter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Black male, between the ages of 40 and 50, in olive military-style uniform. He is approximately 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, medium complexion with gray sideburns -- graying sideburns.

BLITZER: A manhunt, an emergency manhunt, clearly under way as a result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.

Breaking news tonight, live, D.C. Bombshell tonight. D.C. massacre gunman named, and reports now surfacing the mass shooter had an ex-Navy Yard worker`s ID. At this hour, the manhunt for a potential second shooter goes on after the first gunman, 34-year-old Aaron Alexis, enters the D.C. Navy Yard, home to thousands of Navy personnel, dressed in drab military attire and packing multiple weapons, including, allegedly, a semi-automatic AR-15, opens fire in broad daylight. At this hour, at least 13 known dead.

Tonight, the U.S. Navy Yard an active crime scene. Tonight, who is 34-year-old Aaron Alexis? Why did he open fire? And where is the second alleged shooter, as we go to air still at large?

Straight out to Miranda Green, reporter with the DailyBeast on the scene. Miranda, what`s happening?

MIRANDA GREEN, DAILYBEAST (via telephone): Well, it`s a chaotic situation down here, Nancy. This morning, there were many people on scene, helicopters circling the area, looking for this alleged second or third shooter that was talked about earlier in the morning, before they ruled out that there was just one they`re now looking for.

There were police cars everywhere. The blocks were cordoned off. And it`s still somewhat of a desolate site, a normal area where there`s usually lots of people. It`s a bustling residential area...

GRACE: Well, I noticed in a lot of the footage, Miranda, we actually see helicopters hovering overhead, lowering baskets down to bring up the wounded. Now, why are we in America seeing this sight in D.C.? Tell me, how do we think it went down, Miranda Green?

GREEN: Well, it`s hard to tell. There`s still a lot of facts that we`re trying to ascertain here. What we do know is that one -- at least one or two shooters entered this building, building 197 on the Navy Yard. And he came in with what we`re hearing, as what I`ve been told, was a semi- automatic weapon and opened fire in this closed building, which has to take multiple levels of security in order to get into. And people...

GRACE: Multiple levels of security? Miranda Green, it`s my understanding they don`t even have metal detectors at all of the doors!

GREEN: That is something that I have heard. In order to get onto the Navy base, you need to show an identification card. In order to get into this specific building where the shooting occurred, there is a metal detector (INAUDIBLE) in the front entranceway. But there are side entrances with key cards that I have been told by people that I`ve talked to that you can go through without having to go through a security detector.

GRACE: Straight out to Clark Goldband. Clark, what are we hearing? Reports now surfacing at this hour that the shooter goes in, guns down a security guard and takes his .9 off of him?

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, that`s what some unconfirmed reports are publishing at this our hour, and from there it`s just chaos. According to witnesses, a shooter goes into the cafeteria, mows people down. Some other reports say he goes to higher floors within the building, simply spraying his weapon at anyone.

And what some witnesses say who leave the facility, that he does not speak. The shooter, Aaron Alexis, does not speak when firing the gun at them, simply looks in their direction. Some people say the shooter, if this is the correct shooter witnesses are talking about, was a poor shot and missed shooting some people by a few feet up high.

GRACE: Yes. We`ve got to be super-careful, Clark Goldband, because already, some outlets have apparently named the wrong person as the shooter.

GOLDBAND: That`s right.

GRACE: But from the what we are understanding, it is Aaron Alexis. Now, back out to you, Miranda Green, joining me there on the scene. Miranda, what do we know about Aaron Alexis?

GREEN: Well, as of now, we know that Aaron Alexis is the confirmed shooter. He`s a 34-year-old ex-military, used to be in the Navy, enlistee (ph), and he`s a government contractor. We believe that his most recent place of residence was in Fort Worth, Texas, and that he`s from Queens, New York. Obviously, that is still developing, trying to figure out his motive here.

GRACE: Straight out to Paul Williams, joining me right now. He works next to the Navy Yard. He hears the gunshots. Paul, thank you so much for being with us. What did you hear? What exactly happened, Paul?

PAUL WILLIAMS, HEARD GUNSHOTS: Well, as I was coming to work around 8:15 this morning, that`s when I -- I was listening to music and that`s when I overheard, like, three loud bangs. At the time, I was not sure what it was. There`s construction going on in that area, so I just thought...

GRACE: Some loud bangs? Because some people claim they heard, like, Pop, pop, pop, pop. But you heard loud bangs over the music you were listening to, correct?

WILLIAMS: Correct.

GRACE: OK. Then what happened?

WILLIAMS: After I heard the bangs, again, I thought nothing of it. So I just continued walking on to work. And then maybe 20 to 30 seconds later, that`s when I saw a mass group of people, like 100 people running towards me. I figured I would just follow in line with them and just run with them. Maybe once we stopped, I`d ask some questions about what was going on.

I ran with them. I was turning back around, trying to see what was going on back there. I saw a police officer, may have been a security guard. And she was saying, you know, Run, there`s a shooter. There`s a shooting. Run. Go -- continue going...

GRACE: Is that when you first realize that the sounds you heard had been guns?

WILLIAMS: You know, actually, still at that point, I did not put that together because as I was getting closer to the building I heard a fire alarm. So I was assuming they were running for a fire.

But as she was saying shooting, I was even more confused. I was, like, Is it a fire, a shooting? I was very confused at that point.

Once we got about a block away, I asked them, I was, like, you know, What`s going on? What was happening over there? And he told me that there was a shooter. A guy came into the building and just started shooting.

GRACE: OK, so you`re pulling up to work. You`re listening to music. You hear banging, three bangs. You don`t know what it is. You`re not concerned. You suddenly start seeing people running. You wisely run, as well, still not realizing it was gunshots.

Now, did you ever talk to any of those people? What were they saying?

WILLIAMS: As -- later on, since -- it`s funny because I do not -- I don`t work with any of those people. Actually, I work next to the building.

GRACE: Right.

WILLIAMS: But I don`t know anyone in that building, I guess, specifically. So I was just listening them talking to loved ones on the phone just saying that they were OK. I asked them, you know, what was going on. They said a guy came into the building and just shooting. But they also seemed, honestly, just as unclear as I was.

GRACE: So it was just confusion. Now, you say that someone, a police officer or security, was saying, Run, there`s a shooter?

WILLIAMS: Yes. She was saying, Run, there`s a shooter. And at the time that she was saying that, she also was, you know, looking around the corner, kind of like the person was behind her. She -- you know, she was in more of a protective stance, trying to look around the corner. But she actually went back into that building, went back into that area.

And I hope that she`s OK because I never saw her come out because I was actually looking for her. And at no point while I was out there, waiting, I never -- I never saw her again come out. So I hope she`s OK.

GRACE: With me is Paul Williams, joining me live from D.C., heard the gunshots, saw people running out and wisely began to run with them. When you look back on it, Paul, and you realize what was going on, what are your thoughts?

WILLIAMS: I`m very -- I`m just -- it`s just very -- it`s still, I guess -- maybe I`m still -- still cloudy about it, still confused. Obviously, my heart goes out to the victims and all those affected by this tragedy, which obviously will be the nation, the whole entire area.

But just being a normal Monday, just listening to music, and I just thought it would be a normal day, and to have that -- literally, it changed from my walk to the car until when I heard the sounds, it may have been a three-minute time period. And so in three minutes, basically, the entire - - I guess my entire day, you know, changed, and more importantly, obviously, the lives and time (ph) of those people that were affected as well.

GRACE: You know what, Paul Williams? You`re echoing something I`ve heard and experienced from so many crime victims. What starts off as just a normal day suddenly turns out to be day that you will never forget the rest of your life when crime touches you.

We are live and taking your calls. SWAT teams at this hour hunting for a possible second gunman allegedly dressed in military fatigues. At this hour, at least 13 known dead, others critically wounded in a building in Washington, the Washington Navy Yard in D.C.

One of the shooters among the dead, sources stating he is identified at Aaron Alexis. He is currently living in Fort Worth, Texas, from New York, in his 30s, once lived in Flushings Queen (sic), and interestingly, according to multiple reports, had on him an ID from a former Navy Yard worker.

Now, what do we know about this guy? Beth Karas, what do we know about Aaron Alexis?

BETH KARAS, HLN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he was a military contractor, among the things that you have just stated. He`s 34 years old. He was in the Navy between 2007 and January of 2011. He didn`t get too high a rank. We don`t have details of his discharge. I don`t have any reason to believe it wasn`t anything but honorable. But we don`t know.

GRACE: But he had (INAUDIBLE) decorations, Beth...

KARAS: He did.

GRACE: ... national defense (ph) service medal, global war on terrorism service medal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. One of them is a common one. Now, he was arrested in September 2010, but no charges were ultimately filed. He was not discharged for the reckless discharge of a firearm if Texas. That was the statement that the Texas authorities released...

GRACE: Now, hold on! Beth! Beth, I know that that never -- that case never went forward, but according to our investigation, when he was in Texas, he fired up into the roof of his home, and it went into somebody else`s home living above him, in the apartment or the condo above him. And that woman was convinced that it was done on purpose, and she stated that she had been afraid of him for a long time.

KARAS: Well, interesting fact. However, they did not end up filing any charges.

GRACE: Yes.

KARAS: He says he was cleaning his gun and it was an accidental discharge. So you know, maybe they just would never be able to prove it. Sometimes when they don`t file charges, it doesn`t mean that a crime didn`t happen. It`s just they don`t have the proof. They`re not going to proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

GRACE: So we know then, Beth, he`s ex-military. He was working in IT. He was also working at this, as of today, as a contractor for the military there in D.C. Also, at this hour -- everyone, we are live and taking your calls -- SWAT teams currently hunting for a potential second gunman dressed in military fatigues. Tonight, Washington, D.C., never the same, under attack again, massacre in D.C.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`d just paid for my breakfast, and I heard "pop, pop, pop."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the Washington Navy Yard. About 3,000 people work here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the girl that was with me, I said, Somebody`s shooting, and everybody in the cafeteria kind of panicked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Multiple law enforcement agencies on the scene here. There are choppers swarming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just very afraid and I was just -- I was just so lost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then it was three seconds` break, and then it was, "Pop, pop, pop, pop," and everybody started running. We just started panicking and running out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back. Massacre in D.C. At this hour, 13 known dead after an ex-military man, now a government contractor, apparently comes into the Navy Yard and unloads seemingly at random.

With me right now, Commander Jim Liddy, retired Navy SEAL who worked at the Navy Yard. Commander Liddy, thank you for being with us. What can you tell us about today`s happenings?

JIM LIDDY, RETIRED NAVY SEAL (via telephone): Well, what I can tell you is that when I first heard of the event, I assumed immediately that he had to have had an ID because the security at the Navy Yard is pretty good. Definitely always room for improvement, but in order to get in, he had to show some kind of identification, official identification to get by the initial checkpoints.

What still has to be determined is how does he get though those with a weapon, and if it`s true that as soon as he was challenged, he pulled that weapon, that would explain it. But security...

GRACE: Commander? Commander Liddy, this is something that`s very, very confusing to me, but -- and it`s only highlighted by what you just said. If you have to show an ID to get in -- we are not naming the name of the ID we think he had on him because we don`t know that yet and I don`t want to pull some innocent person in on this. For all I know, the ID could have been stolen. So I`m not naming the person that had the ID we think he had.

But the ID we think he had looks absolutely nothing like him.

LIDDY: And that`s not terrible unusual. When I used to work red cell (ph) operations, which is where we would test security at facilities, Department of Defense facilities and other agency facilities, it was often fairly easy to show an ID rather quickly, and if the people aren`t diligent enough to check it, you`d be amazed -- and maybe you wouldn`t be -- as to the differences of an identification that the similarity is not very good and allowing those people to get through.

GRACE: Commander...

LIDDY: Even an instance when we used a $5 bill folded that looked like the old green military ID, and that got by, as well.

GRACE: You`re kidding!

LIDDY: No.

GRACE: Somebody flashed a $5 bill as ID and they let them in?

LIDDY: Well, this was -- this was about a decade ago, and the people who know what those IDs looked like, they looked just like -- you know, they liked a piece of some kind of monetary paper, green. And if you showed it quickly and flashed it by and there was a lot of people, they would let you through.

Now, post-9/11, things changed significantly, and there are more checkpoints, more screening, multiple badges. So it`s -- it...

GRACE: Is it true, Commander Liddy, that there are not metal detectors at every entrance? Because now some reports are surfacing, and we`re trying to confirm it, that he comes in and guns down the security officer and takes his .9 millimeter.

LIDDY: Yes. And that`s -- that`s -- there`s two problems there. First of all, the reason why they don`t have metal detectors is they do have prioritization. Wherever there`s more sensitive activities and people and that sort of thing, they`re going to have tougher screening and they`ll have metal detectors.

But other areas -- you have to remember, on the Navy Yard, you know, part of that is a living museum of naval history. And so they allow visitors, and some of these points may be -- well, I know from being there -- are less diligent on the security.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just gunshots, multiple gunshots. And someone yelled gun, and we ran.

BLITZER: Multiple deaths, multiple injuries.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We saw him raise and aim it in our direction.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least three shots fired in this building at the Washington Navy Yard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then in the cafeteria, we heard something sound that loud that many times. It wasn`t something that dropped on the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back. For those of you just joining us, the manhunt is on for a potential second shooter in the D.C. massacre. As you know by now, this morning, shots ringing out at the Navy Yard. At this hour, at least 13 dead, others critically wounded.

We are taking your calls. I want to go back to Miranda Green with the DailyBeast, there on the scene. Miranda, what I`m hearing from Commander Jim Liddy, who actually worked at the Navy Yard for many years, is very, very disturbing, that basically, you know, you could flash a dollar bill, a $5 bill as ID and get in.

And now reports are emerging that the shooter, Aaron Alexis, had someone else`s ID that looked nothing like him, and got in.

GREEN: Yes, I`ve been talking to people on the scene who have also admitted to me that the security precautions on base are not necessarily what they would describe as stringent and being tough. You have to show some sort of identification to get on the base, and then to get into each building, you also have to provide identification and go through go through a metal detector.

But there are ways to get in besides that main entrance for those who have the swipe card. And I don`t know whether these swipe cards have chips in them or what the actual details of that are, but apparently, it`s not such a straightforward way of necessarily getting into this base. It`s...

GRACE: Back to Commander Jim Liddy, retired Navy SEAL who worked at the Navy Yard. What exactly goes on at the Navy Yard? What is it? It`s not the head of the Navy, but what is it?

LIDDY: It`s really used as almost an annex to the Pentagon specifically for the Naval Sea Systems Command, which is a very, very large command that does the resourcing and decision -- policy decisions for resourcing for the Navy. There are other subordinate commands that are there, as well, but you should think of it as almost an annex to the Pentagon, but very Navy-centric.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chaos and just fear in Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are choppers swarming all over the place, police walking the perimeter with riot and SWAT team gear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twelve dead here, including the shooter there at the Washington Navy Yard from this mass shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He simply walked up to try to say, Hey, there`s a shooter in your building. Do you know what`s going on? I`m, like, I don`t know what`s going on. Fire alarm went off. We`re trying to evacuate everybody. That`s when he got shot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news, tragedy in Washington, at least 12 confirmed dead in a shooting of Washington Navy Yard, including one suspected shooter. And we do have his name. It`s Aaron Alexis. He`s apparently in the military, date enlisted, May 5th, 2007.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least one shooter is dead. Authorities are continuing to search for a possible second gunman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This remain as very active investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: At this hour, the Navy Yard still an active crime scene. For those of you just joining us, at least 13 dead at this hour, others critically wounded, after Aaron Alexis gets into the building we believe with someone else`s ID that looked nothing like him. He gets into the building and opens fire. Who is Aaron Alexis? Why? Why? Take a listen to what his friends say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would never have believed this until it happened. It would never have -- ever have crossed my mind that he would be capable of something like that. He seemed like the typical -- like my own children. They love weapons. They love to go to the range, things like that. He seemed like that kind of a guy. He seemed the kind of a guy that he liked to have weapons. But he never acted like he would hurt anyone. Never, ever. Like--

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you ever see his weapons?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never, never saw his weapons. No. I heard, in fact, I had a conversation, I heard he fired one off or something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think his frustration with the contractor over the payment? Do you think that could have been something that led to this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, from the conversations I have had with him, I would say that that would be a part of it, just because he really felt like they should have paid him when they took him in Tokyo. It was, you know -- he loved to be able to travel, but when he came back, he talked about how they didn`t give him the money that they said, and so -- I would think that could be --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Salary money wasn`t paid or?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Money that he should have gotten paid, and -- or slow pay or something, and I don`t know if he ever got paid, because the last conversation I had had with him several months ago was that they did not pay him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Loves weapons and is angry about his pay? This is an ex- military man who was currently working contract with a military contractor. We are live and taking your calls. Out to Eddie in Iowa. Hi, Eddie. What`s your question?

CALLER: Hi. Yes, I mean, yes, I hear the story about this gentleman, about not being paid and everything, and I am a little concerned just because of the fact that people are not realizing the crime that this has happened, but blaming Obama over the whole situation? About him paying more attention to Syria than his own country? And I just kind of think that, you know, that it`s just something needs to be kind of said, you know, because I don`t think this has anything to do with Obama, but people are blaming all over Facebook that it`s his fault that this happened. And I mean, I can realize that this gentleman is from the military, and there were kind of some conflicts over pay, but I think it`s something that is horrible that`s happened, and that`s what we need to focus on at this point.

GRACE: I don`t know about any wild-haired theory that somehow the president is to blame for this. Whether you like the president or not, I don`t think he had a hand in it, nor is he to blame for this. It sounds to me more like complaint and anger about non-payment at the root of this.

But I want to go back to Commander Jim Liddy, retired Navy SEAL, worked at the Navy Yard. What is the layout? Because we`re hearing he opened fire on people in the cafeteria. Then he got up to the third and fourth floors and continued to shoot, almost at random, yet other reports say he seemed to target individuals.

LIDDY: Well, you know, I really can`t comment on, if he was targeting individuals or not. The layout of the Navy -- the Navy Yard there is about two-thirds of a mile long, and maybe a half a mile wide. Has 20 or so, some buildings on it. It tends to be kind of crowded because of that. You know, a lot of facilities, small rows to get access around. There are areas off limits, because the chief of naval operations` home is there, so getting in and around the base is actually a bit of a challenge, and parking is at a premium. So any activities that are going on on that base, there are cameras all over. I imagine once they get to the investigation, they`ll be able to tell just how he got in and got access into the building.

GRACE: How close is this, Commander, to Capitol Hill?

LIDDY: I`m sorry. Say that again?

GRACE: How close is this Navy Yard to Capitol Hill?

LIDDY: Oh, less than a half a mile. It`s maybe four, four blocks over to the Capitol itself.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Alex Sanchez, New York, Joey Piscopo, criminal defense attorney, former JAG, Tampa, Florida. Joey Piscopo, if there is another shooter involved, he better run.

JOEY PISCOPO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, this is a good case for an insanity defense, because it`s Washington, D.C. They have a different insanity standard than most states. In most states, it`s the McNaughton rule. You have to show you have a mental disease or defect, and as a result you don`t know right from wrong. But in Washington, you have to show that you have a mental disease or defect, and you could not conform your standards to the requirements of the law. That`s why John Hinckley is serving his sentence for shooting President Reagan in a mental hospital, and not a federal prison. So this is an insanity defense case.

GRACE: To Alex Sanchez, defense attorney, New York. Alex, if there is another gunman -- and right now the hunt is on for a potential second gunman -- what do you advise? And I don`t know that I would attach the fact that Aaron Alexis had somebody else`s I.D., I don`t know that I would attach any guilt to that person, because, I mean, who would use their I.D. to get in for a mass shooting?

ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: First of all, if you can`t be safe at a military base in Washington, D.C., then nobody`s safe in this country anywhere. In terms of a second gunman, if he`s watching the show or if he`s listening on the radio, the time to put down your weapons and give up. OK? He`s going to be prosecuted. He can run, but he can`t hide. So put down your weapons, give up and let the police take custody of you and proceed through the justice system.

GRACE: Out to Mark Harold, former officer and author joining me there at the scene. Mark Harold, what do you make of it? Is this surprising that the D.C. police chief would say authorities are unsure as to how many shooters there are?

MARK HAROLD, AUTHOR: No. I don`t think so. You know, the information came in so many different law enforcement agencies reporting back. The information, I didn`t think that was strange at all. She gave enough information, she wanted people to be alert, she wanted them to know there was still a danger. (inaudible) danger. It went from two shooters who might be on the loose to one. The information all around D.C. has been changing all day. Every 10, 15 minutes it was a completely different story as this story evolved here in Washington, D.C.

GRACE: Mark, you`re there on the scene. How do you determine if the actor is a lone wolf? He`s part of a cell? Or he is, or is he affiliated with a group? How do we determine whether there are co-shooters or co- defendants?

HAROLD: Well, what they`re going to do here, obviously, the person who is now deceased, if he had any evidence on him, any electronic devices, they`re going to be looking through those to determine who he had communication with. If this is a conspiracy, the norm is, as the conspiracy, the date and the time get closer, communication picks up between the parties. And they`ll be looking for anything they can find in a residence, or a temporary residence either in Texas or here in the Washington, D.C. area, as to what his ideology may be, his motives, whether he was disgruntled, whether this was revenge on the federal government or whatever his particular gripe might have been. They`re looking into that, and I agree, there`s a lot of technology down there. They`re going to find a lot of pictures to see what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)B

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible) in position, stand ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are multiple fatalities on the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of this complex behind me. This is the Washington Navy Yard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heard a very loud pop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`d say we have multiple victims inside that are deceased.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We could see him with the rifle, and he raised and aimed at us and fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone said, this is no drill. Go, go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gunshots they heard in rapid succession.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard shots.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It had to be a semiautomatic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible) around the corner, he aimed his gun at us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, emergency exists, now, go, go, go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yelling for everyone to get out of the building now. That`s when we started moving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then he fired at least two, three shots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Imagine at your office, people diving under desks, hiding in closets as gunshots ring out. As you heard one witness say, it had to be an automatic or semiautomatic due to the rapid fire of bullets. We are talking about the massacre in D.C. at the Navy Yard. At this hour, 13 known dead. Many others in the hospital. Many critically wounded.

At this hour, we`re also hearing that the shooter, Aaron Alexis, frustrated with a civilian contractor after a trip that lasted several months to Japan, he was complaining that he was not paid properly. Whether it was expenses or salary, he felt the company owed him more. He is an ex- military man. He allegedly left after four years service because he, quote, didn`t want to get up early in the morning anymore. Well, his name will go down in infamy as the man who entered the Navy Yard and unloaded his weapons, gunning down, as we know of at this hour, 13 are dead.

We are taking your calls. I want to go back out to Beth Karas, legal analyst. Beth, what more, if anything, do we know about him? Did he live alone? Where was he living? How did he get from New York to Fort Worth?

KARAS: Well, I believe it was his work that brought him to Texas, when he was stationed in the military. That`s how he got down to Texas. So he originally hails from New York, but regarding marital status, there`s no information forthcoming about that right now that I`m aware of.

GRACE: Let`s take a listen to a presser that just went down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VINCENT GRAY, MAYOR, DC.: First of all, our chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, Chief Cathy Lanier, and they we`ll have our FBI representative, we`ll have our chief of the Park Police and then our Congresswoman, Eleanor Holmes Norton.

CATHY LANIER, METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT CHIEF: The only thing additional we can add right now is that we are still continuing to ask our community to remain out of the area, and shelter in place. We still are working diligently to either verify or clear whether we have that last additional person of interest out, whether they`re going to be involved or not. That process is not complete.

So this is still an active investigation. We still have a lot of law enforcement activity in the area. So, please, bear with us and ask that people stay out of the area until we give the all-clear.

I will also add that our officer from MPD is recovering. He does have serious injuries, but we -- we know he`s going to be OK, and I wanted to thank all of our community members who have shown an outpouring of support for our MPD family. So we do have the officer now who is stable, out of surgery and stable, and is going to be OK.

So traffic closures remain the same as before. They probably will remain closures across M Street throughout the night. This is going to be a little bit longer-term investigation. I think once we clear that last suspect, whether that is going to be a person we`re looking for or not, we`ll have some additional curfews lifted. But for now, everything remains closed that was closed earlier, and this is still very active. so we`re saying to shelter in place. Do remain. The moment we have more additional information, we`ll push it out to the community and make sure that the press is updated. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good afternoon. We do not have any further detail to share at this time about the deceased shooter. We, again, ask the public to look at the photos of Aaron Alexis and contact the FBI with any and all information. The photos are available on fbi.gov, and all information can be reported to 1-800-call-fbi. This investigation is still very active, and we will continue to work with our partners to track down every bit of information that we learn. The assistance of the public is vital in investigations of this type as we try to piece together the recent movements and contacts of the subject. No piece of information is too small. Please, call to report any and all information to 1-800-call-fbi. Thank you.

LANIER: I just want to add one thing. For all of our local folks that are following the news coverage here, there is misinformation that is getting out through a variety of different sources. I will say to our friends in the media, if you have sources inside of the law enforcement agencies that are reporting, they are not official reports unless they come through this body or from the FBI. So what unfortunately happens is law enforcement sources will hear something, and then it gets passed around, it changes, oftentimes is not completely accurate and then is getting reported in the press. So please, if it is not coming from this official body or from the FBI, it is not confirmed. There is a lot of misinformation getting out. We are trying to make sure factual information is being pushed out through all of our MPD sources and through city sources, on our Twitter and D.C. alert and all of our contacts, and we make sure that the press gets any updates as they go out.

So, please, if you have sources reporting something, if you try and verify through us before you put it out, it would be helpful with some of the misinformation that results in additional calls coming in that divert our resources. So, please, if I could just ask for everybody`s patience there. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And a personal note at this point that we are now in a support role. The United States Park Police, we were one of the first responders this morning, but I wanted to thank the community who puts up with some disruption in the day when a tragedy like this happens, so we have to re-route traffic, or we don`t have a lot of information initially. But as the day has gone on, our officers have been stopped on the street and said, thank you to --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now we`re confirming at least 12 fatalities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 3,000 people work here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just gunshots. Multiple gunshots and someone yelled gun and we ran.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard three shots. Pow, pow, pow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The kind of sound reverberating, you know exactly what it is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They build, they buy, they maintain all the Navy`s ships, submarines and their combat systems.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it was as secure as any other military facility where if you have a reason to be there, they check your I.D. and they let you go.

LANIER: We have one shooter that we believe is involved in this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back, everyone. At this hour, at least 13 dead that we know of. The search, the hunt for a potential second shooter ongoing. The Navy Yard still an active crime scene. This as reports coming in that Aaron Alexis was discharged after a pattern of misconduct. Repeat, a pattern of misconduct from the Navy. He goes on from the Navy to work as a contractor with the government, allegedly disgruntled over pay. We are taking your calls. Tom in D.C. Hi, Tom. What`s your question?

CALLER: Hi, Nancy. Thanks for taking my call. I live, actually, not too far from where this happened in D.C., and I would say, as if this weren`t bad enough, I`m seeing reports now of a second gunman who is still on the loose? I mean, I`ve got a family, and I don`t even want to let them out of the house. It`s like the D.C. sniper all over again. I am just wondering, are they any closer to catching this guy? What do they know?

GRACE: Tom in D.C., I was in D.C. at the time of the D.C. sniper. I know exactly what you are thinking right now about not letting your family out.

Back to Miranda Green with the Daily Beast joining me there on the scene. What do we know about a second shooter, Miranda? Is this just they are saying they are looking for them? Do they really think there is a second shooter or are they afraid to say there`s only one shooter and then it turns out to be a conspiracy of other shooters?

GREEN: No, that`s a million-dollar question, Nancy. The police are going with the argument or going with the official statement that they are looking for this second shooter and that they have ascertained -- we believe he`s an African-American male with gray sideburns in his mid-40s or 50s, and they believe that he is wielding a long gun. But the last report of seeing this man was 8:35 this morning. And since then, I have yet to hear any reports of any sightings, any chases, anyone who has come forward to say that they know his whereabouts.

GRACE: I mean, Miranda Green, has any of the victims -- any of them stated that anyone other than Aaron Alexis was wielding a weapon? And to Dr. Leigh Vinocur, ER physician joining me out of Baltimore, when you have somebody there in the hospital bed, I mean, it`s pretty hard to ask them information about the shooting, is it not?

DR. LEIGH VINOCUR, MD, ER PHYSICIAN: Well, it really depends on the condition they are in, Nancy. So I am sure that they did. First, obviously, when somebody comes in from a crime scene, you take care of their injuries. But once you take care of any critical injuries, if you get the chance, the police, FBI, can come and interview them later. So it might be a little too early for those victims to be interviewed, but the victims that perished during that time, they`ll start to look at ballistics, and they`ll have the ballistics from the shooter who was killed, and they`ll match them up. And if there is a different gun, every bullet has a signature, and if there`s a different --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: We remember American hero, Marine Corporal Chad Wade, just 22. Bentonville, Arkansas. Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal. Parents Tammy and Terry, two sisters, two brothers, widow Katie. Chad Wade. American hero.

And now back to D.C. The massacre claiming the lives we know of 13 at this hour. To Dr. Eris Huemer, psychotherapist, joining me out of L.A., the mind-set it must take to go into an adjunct building of the Pentagon and start shooting.

DR. ERIS HUEMER, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Yes, Nancy, this is actually something that probably has a long trail, something that has been planned for quite a long time, as the other experts were saying on the panel today, that it might have been about work. It might have been about non-pay. So there is probably a lot of anger and revenge that is attached to this sort of crime. That has a long trail that`s going to be attached to that as it all unfolds.

GRACE: Everyone, as we go to break, we continue our coverage of the D.C. shooting. But tonight, a special good night from friends Carly, Brenda and Kara. Aren`t they beautiful? And isn`t it wonderful to see beautiful smiling faces at the end of this day. Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END