- Title: USA: At least four people killed, several injured in U.S. Navy Yard shooting
- Date: 16th September 2013
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 16, 2013) (REUTERS) WIDE OF MEDIA SCRUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) PATRICIA WARD, LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST AT WASHINGTON NAVY YARD, SAYING: "The workers in the cafeteria wanted us to stay in there and hide but I just ran - a few of us ran out the side exit. There we saw the security guard. She told us to run to shelter, keep running. She had her gun drawn and somebody had pulled the fire alarm, and that's when I heard police, M.P.'s, everybody was just coming down with cars and sirens. (REPORTER ASKS: "WHAT DID THE SHOTS SOUND LIKE?") It was like, pow, pow, pow, and then in a few seconds it stopped, and then it pow, pow, pow, pow, so we just ran. (REPORTER ASKS: DID YOU HEAR HOW MANY THERE WERE?) I counted at least seven."
- Embargoed: 1st October 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Crime
- Reuters ID: LVABM0ZR94PMG3UVGP3L8YNMLZ88
- Story Text: Several people were killed and others injured when at least one gunman opened fire at the U.S. Navy Yard in Washington D.C. on Monday (September 16), authorities said.
One Navy official said that four people had died and eight others were injured, but other officials suggested caution over those numbers saying the situation was in flux.
A Washington police spokesman said five people had been shot at the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters, just 2.6 miles (4.2 km) from the White House, including a District of Columbia police officer and one other law enforcement officer.
Patricia Ward, who works at the Navy Yard, described how she first heard the gunfire while having breakfast at the headquarters building.
"The workers in the cafeteria wanted us to stay in there and hide but I just ran - a few of us ran out the side exit," said Ward.
Ward said she counted at least seven gunshots. She described hearing three gun shots, then a few seconds later, she heard four more gunshots.
Security guards rushed in and got people out as fast as they could, Ward told reporters.
At least one shooter has been killed, a U.S. Navy official told Reuters.
A Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said more than one gunman may have been involved. The Washington Post reported that there were several gunmen.
Dozens of police and emergency vehicles surrounded the complex in southeast Washington, which is about a mile (1.6 km) south of the U.S. Capitol, local media reported.
Helicopters circled the headquarters with some touching down on the building's roof to transport the injured to the hospital. The shooting briefly shut down flights at Reagan National Airport.
The Navy said in a statement the shooting took place at the heavily guarded headquarters, where about 3,000 people work.
The shooting hit the military establishment less than three week after U.S. Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan was sentenced to death for murdering 13 people in 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas, where he gunned down unarmed soldiers in what he later called retaliation for U.S. wars in Muslim countries.
A Washington police spokesman said the first reports of shots were received at 8:36 a.m. EDT (1236 GMT).
The Navy Yard dates to the 18th century and is the oldest Navy installation. It houses a museum, the residence of the chief of naval operations and is responsible for weapons development, among other functions. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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