>> greta: this is a fox news alert we're live at washington navy yard where we're getting new information about today's mass shooting. 12 people gunned down. the gunman a former navy reservist, also dead. tonight police believe aaron alexis was the only gunman. here is a look at how those terrifying events unfolded today. >> active shooter at the washington navy yard right now is being sought. there is at least one victim and at least three shots were fired. >> we are panicking and trying to decide which way he's going to run out. >> looks like pow, pow, then

stopped. then, pow, pow so we just ran. >> the suspect is a male using a large shotgun. he is in the fourth floor of the building in the navy yard. >> it's a pretty frightening scene right now. people are running full speed and many different directions. >> everyone was scared, pushing and shoving, falling down. people climbing the wall trying to get out of the bases. just crazy. >> a very frantic call went out for officer down inside of the building on the third floor. a spokesperson saying there are at the moment four quote, unquote victims including one police officer. it's not clear whether the victims are wounded or dead. >> there is a helicopter now

hovering close to the top of that building where we believe action is. whatever was dropped down that helicopter was going to hold back up, now, the helicopter is flying at one point, okay. now from where i am i can see what looks like a person on the side of it. >> it's not clear at this point in time whether this person who is being described as a six-foot male carrying this military issued assault rifle, whether he is someone who worked on the base or had access tolt base. >> down the hall we cannot see a face we saw him holding a rifle and raise and aim in our drix they're working under at assumption there is one shooter at this point in time. >> alleged shooter apparently barricading himself into a building there. >> still trying to confirm the number of fatality autos one

shooter we believe involved in this that is deceased. we potentially have two other shooters that we have not located at this point. >> the gentleman came out from the back of the boiler building talking to me. i heard two shots in the alley way. he dropped in front of me and i took off after him. >> we're going to make sure whoever carried out this cowardly act is held responsible. >> right now we're confirming 12 fatalities. >> a witness took a victim of i a man laying helpless on the ground we have no idea if that victim survived and have confirmed identity of the shooter. he is aaron alexis, 34 years old from texas. >> we talked about the pos pose -- possibility of there being two other suspects. that has been ruled out.

the gentleman is no longer a suspect. we don't know what the motive is at this stage. >> we now have a total of 13 fatalities including the shooter. >> what we know about aaron alexis is that he left the navy in 2011. >> there were two other possible suspects one has been cleared and other they say they're still looking for a black male in his 50s and an olive uniform armed and seen on surveillance video. >> u.s. navy officials say that the suspect in this shooting never deployed, never served in combat. never deployed to a war zone. he was an aviation electrician until 2011 in fort worth, texas his friends say he left the navy because he didn't like getting out of bed so early. aaron alexis charged with unlawfully discharging a weapon into a neighbor's living room. his friends say that he recently traveled to thailand,

he was a buddhist, a buddhist with apparent anger issues. and we're learning the name of the victims. rick? >> greta we just came from a news conference with the mayor of washington. the police chief, and the head of the fbi office here in washington, d.c.. and the metropolitan police department handed thus list of seven of the 11 people who died at the scene. there was a 12th person, the shooter died. one victim died in the hospital. let's get to this very sad list of names, these are the seven people whose families have been notified so we can release their names. 59-year-old michael arnold, 53-year-old sylvia frasier. 6-year-old kathy gaarde, john roger johnson, frank kohler,

kenneth bernard proc tore and a 61-year-old we're told the victims are not active duty military, apparently none of those killed according to the police department were active duty military they're civilians and contractors at least one of them is a washington, d.c. resident. all seven i just read, again, aged 46-736789 their families have been notified they're still working to notify five others killed in the shooting we learned from this news conference this evening that the shooter in this case had legitimate access to the navy yard. he utilized a valid pass accord together fbi to get on to the navy skbrard begin that shooting spree today. they -- also told us that

they're lifting the shelter in place and in large part because of what we told you last hour is that they no longer believe anyone sells involved in this shooting. two other possible suspects named earlier, they were looking for them. they eliminated one of them. the second they're still trying to find and they now say they have exhausted resources and have determined in fact there was a sole shooter this morning and there is no longer any search ongoing for anyone else. we talked to the fbi about their investigation on scene. they tell us goitsing to take roughly 48 hours to finalize the processing of the crime scene. it took him a while to get going because they had to clear the building but they're there now and have a very long and tedious task ahead of them to document every inch inside of the building and determine what happened inside every

step of the way from every bullet fired but we do have again confirmed a shooter, dead, a dozen killed and eight injuries and one other note here on injuries three people were shot, and wounded in today's shooting including officer scott williams who went into surgery. the police chief says he's in good spirits. the other five injuries were described as stress injuries, one person suffered a head injury when they fell running from the scene. there are other abrasion buzz no indication anyone of these other eight people who were injured or wounded today will be -- there is every indication they'll be okay, greta. a lot of information coming from this news conference, they're not looking for anyone else. the shooter is dead z now they have to process that crime scene. >> greta: rick, thank you. now retired navy commander who led the uss cole and two

former ship mates were in building 197 during the shooting. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> greta: how did you learn about the shooting sir? >> i had news tuned in, heard bit and when i learned where it was and what building it was in i've been in that building i know it and i know i've got friends working in there and texted over to find out a ship mate of mine as well as naval academy of mine both of them were in there we texted back and forth they were actually barricaded in a conference room as rounds were going above their head into the wall trying to keep the staff calm and safe in the office there. >> greta: it's hard to imagine pandemonium inside. first you have someone coming in shooting from fourth floor down to people in a cafeteria and people like your two friends who are holed up in a room trying to protect others in uncertainty and noise and the chaos.

just hard to imagine this. >> it's unbelievable in that building. it's square. and all of the officers ring the outside then have you a center atrium, it's support bid steel beams so there is metal when a shot rings out it echoes so much that you can't tell where the shots are coming from. you didn't know which direction to run. where to go. you don't know whether running toward or away from the gunman. >> greta: nice to -- at the news conference they said he had quote a legitimate past from a terrible security check because if they'd done a decent one they would have found out a checkered history in seattle, texas why he left the navy. it's not legitimate just because it happened to be issue if it's done on a very, you know, i don't know how to describe what happened. >> it knowed -- showed

background checks we're doing given rapid expansion since september 11th has allow foamed come into the system and obtain security clearances they may not be entitled to had they gone through a rigorous check. at this point it's going to be a matter of american people investing the money in the department of defense to get checks done right. >> greta: how much does it in six hours we've learned his na we know about his prior arrests and problems we've been to texas and seattle. we've been to new york they've got fingerprints. it doesn't take a lot if the media can get this in six hours, why can't the government stop contracting out to someone tols do terrible security checks? >> well, i think what you're going to find is that government has the same amount of information but someone made a bad judge tomt allow this individual especially with weapons violations in the past if you have a domestic dispute you're not allowed to

hold weapons this guy taking shots at car tires should never have been allowed to get a security clearance given what we know now. but begin, i'll allow that investigation to unfold a little bit because i think we really need to learn not just how it happened but why. >> greta: in seattle there was apparently a break in between shooting from police to prosecutors that never got prosecuted. anyway, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you greta. >> greta: straight ahead fbi taking the lead in this investigation. find out what agents are looking for. our live coverage of the massacre continues next. >> are you okay? are you okay? okay. >> i love you, too. bye. >> is that who you're looking for? >> yes. my husband. he's okay. they just got out of the building safely and heard

gunshots. all morning. they're owl out safely. he's trying to let me know. >> must have been nerve wracking for you all morning long. >> yes. the worst morning imaginable. i want to kind him and give him a hu

we don't know the motive for for the massacre. the fbi now leading the investigation. jeff lanza joins us, good evening, sir. >> hello. >> greta: i'm a little hung up on the fact that this man had a security clearance. i suspect in the last three hours there are five hours the media gathered more information about it we probably did it by going through google. i'm curious. the fbi is not the one that gave him security clearance, i don't think but what kind of how extensive are the security

checks generally? >> they're supposed to be very extensive. each one has a different level of things to get that clearance, these are done by contractors and whether you get a good one or not depends on who that is contracted out to and particular investigators. >> all right wh. i was an intern for three months in 1978, the fbi did a background check on me and everybody else, whatever happened to the fbi doing background checks? we don't have money or man power? >> they still do background checks for certain positions this the government. white house level positions and other position that's require top secret security clearance, they don't have the man power with 12,600 agents working terrorism cases and

other responsibilities they have, they don't have enough resources to do all of these background investigations for all government agencies oor what does the -- the fbi has taken the lead what. is the fbi doing in there snoont. >> the focus inside of the crime scene is a forensic investigation. you're going to go through inch by inch in that cafeteria area where he was shooting down into the cafeteria. and they're going to figure out where those shots ended up and conclusion this morning. >> they probably have videotapes showing they d why do they have to -- he's dead. it's not like this is going to

trial. >> right. >> greta: sit out of respect for the families? and people that died? it's pretty obvious when looking at the tapes i snekt. >> it's just -- if the person was still alive you need that for trial preparation and to -- for evidence purposes but in these investigations you do that to do an after action report these will be looked at by other groupses of people to see what could have been differently in the building to prevent it from happening they can look to see what steps could have been taken from a physical standpoint. and that would have limited exposure to the number of people shot today. >> good idea that people like this man don't get into the building and armed as he was. it doesn't take weapon from a

security guard or something. >> right. and how he got in without a amount of weaponry i have no idea. but this really leads back to the issue of the security clearance and the background that was that, did not uncover or did, and no one acted upon it these violent events. almost every time we've seen a case of work place violence there is is something led up to that. either in the work place or something in someone's past and usually someone doesn't take that into consideration when making decisions on how to handle people like this. >> thank you, sir, for joining us. >> you're welcome, greta. >> greta: coming up a witness to the pandemonium taking a photo that went viral what. did that picture show? you're going to hear from the man that took it, next. >> we were trying to pay attention but everybody was looking at what is going on at the building because a lot of

us work there. i'm on the second deck. it's just, i'm just wondering like did any of my shift mates

sound of gunfire and the site of people running for their lives today. don witnessed chaos outside of the navy yard and took a photo that has now gone viral what. does it show? don joins us, nice to see you thank you. >> first of all tell me how do you happen to take a picture? what happened? >> sure on the way to work i live in a building south of here. a parking lot way from the navy yard. i started running late on the hill and a lot of navy yard

civilian tl.z i proceeded to the car to go to work. i come around the corner. i see what looks like police boats in the water. i see a man on the corner that is the photo that i took. looked like there is a lot of pandemonium he was unattended to at the time. i saw first responders barreling down the street. the police came out. asked people to step away. folks had panicked and i couldn't assess what the man's injuries were. i don't know. our office tweeted the photo we said we don't know exactly. but looked like he had been caught up in the pandemonium or collapsed sni don't know. >> greta: so 12 hours later you don't know who swhoe. >> right. >> greta: don't know what injuries were. >> right. >> taken with a cell phone. >> as i drove the way to work. >> besides picture what is it

like here? did you get a sechbs people running out sneer outside of the buildings? walking calmly? >> navy yard folks seemed more calm. as i got to the metro at the corner of new jersey and m folks were pouring out of the metro. there was a lot more panic there arriving at the work place. not knowing why there were so many police cars they hadn't put up caution tape yet. >> greta: when i got here an hour later helicopters were going around. i was madly searching but police closed off the area and by that time helicopters were searching everything. >> right right. there was a lot of panic. on the way to work, rioting on capitol hill. you can tell a sense of heightened tension. capitol police were more stringent about the search

with the car. they had rifles douchblt a different feeling. >> greta: john, thank you very much. >> have you for having me. >> greta: coming up from washington, d.c. to new york and texas to seattle police tracking down information on the gunman. a live report coming up. >> we were just working at our desks and the fire larm went off, occasional tli tl is a practice or fire in the building there was announcement there was a fire emergency in the building but our fire wardens came yelling for everybody to get o um... where's mrs. davis? she took an early spring break thanks to her double miles from the capital one venture card. now what was mrs. davis teaching? spelling. that's not a subject, right? i mean, spell check. that's a program. algebra. okay. persons a and b are flying to the bahamas. how fast will they get there? don't you need distance, rate and... no, all it takes is double miles. [ all ] whoa. yeah.

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as of now with last outstanding lookout for potential last person connected to the deceased shooter a look out for a black male in an olive drab uniform. we had multiple witness accounts that we're sorting through we have now exhausted all means that we have available to either support or discount that lookout and are comfortable at this point to lift the shelter in place so residents in the neighborhood, thank them first of all residents and businesses for supporting us and sheltering in place for an extended period of time wex feel comfortable we've exhausted all means to eliminate that

possible last suspect we do now feel come forltable we have single and sole person responsible for the loss of life inside of the base today. if anything changes as we continue to come forward we'll make that available to the public but again, we're lifting the shelter in place and appreciate the support from our community members. >> greta: tonight a washington, d.c. police officer is recovering from the gunshot wounds. police playing a big role in the investigation. former dc homicide detective ted williams joins us. nice to see you. >> my pleasure, greta. >> greta: you e mailed me a picture from a hotel. >> yes. >> greta: who is staying athe hotel. >> well, from all indication from my sources is the residence inn marriott here in southwest washington and he had been staying there for a while. and it whi stopped by there tonight it was surrounded by law enforcement officers.

how far from here walking distance? >> about a 10 minute walk from here. >> greta: any idea how long he's been living there? >> no. >> greta: who paid the bills? >> good question. he was a contract employee and he was contacted from my sources by hewlett-packard so as a result that have they may have been paying his bills. >> greta: any idea what kind of work he did? >> no. he had access to the navy yard. he could get on there with, and now, you can kind of understand how if he had access to the navy yard how he would not go through closed scrutiny. he would have a card to get on there. >> greta: everyone keeps talking about it tonight this, is sort of gotten under my crawl a little bit. he's quote legitimate access because he had a card to get n he passed a security check but the check apparently done in july.

by a contractor whoever did the check didn't pick up the fact he had an incident in texas and incident in see. media has been able to pick up and my guess is putting his name in google or something. the idea he had quote legitimate i'm struggling with that concept. you know, you can get a security check card if you have arrests and you're in the system. >> yeah. that is what is very troubling. the fact about it is that these contractors are not up under scrutiny they should be. you would think after the snow den incident the spy at nsa he would have been put up under more skrut nismt i can assure you in the future they will. >> greta: unless congress has given these contractors some sort of immunity from lawsuits who is doing these checks for them i don't know if you know

it's been written into law they have immunity. one good lawsuit in a syste system -- instance like this will put an end to this happen hazardly -- . >> i couldn't agree with you more. the question is what responsibility do they bear? i'm sure that that is going to be under a microscope that how are these individuals -- if they're going to get security clearance there is a responsibility of the united states government as well as contractors. >> greta: i think what happens is that hewlett-packard or someone else contracts out to someone else to do the security checks. and they are, you know it's like, i don't know what other ones are like i've seen two bad ones in six months. >> well, you and i both. it's something going to be under the microscope in regards to this. it's a tragic incident. i cannot tell you how tragic

this. >> is seven families have been notified tonight. five other families right now are just waiting for official confirmation. i know their loved one hasn't come home. just waiting for a confirmation this, is one of the -- horrible for 12 family and friends. >> it z you know? i can tell you the former homicide detective before becoming a lawyer. worst thing in the world to have to notify a family that their loved one is not coming home. >> greta: it's just unbelievable. why? because a guy goes into the building and decides to viciously gun down 12 people. if he could have gotten more, my guess is that he wanted more. >> i think without a debt downtown the police department along with the federal agencies involved they did a good job of getting into that building 197, getting into z.actually getting control of

that scene by killing that guy. >> it's just terrible. ted, thank you. >> greta: ted, thank you. >> my pleasure. >> gunman aaron alexis had brush was the law in several states. rick leventhal is back with more on that. rick thrk man's background is what? >> people wondering how he got security clearance at all. as we have learned he was arrested in 2004 in seattle, washington. police say he shot out tires of a vehicle brong belonging to a construction crew working next door saying he shot out tires of the vehicle apparently upset over the noise they were making or parking situation. that was ongoing because of the construction in the neighborhood. then, in 2010, he allegedly

shot a round through the ceiling of his apartment into the neighbor's apartment upstairs because he had an ongoing dispute about the noise she made in that apartment. the neighbor claims he confrontedner a parking lot friar to the shooting and scared her. she says she was terrified of him. police got to him, they pounded on the door he can't come out. he talked to police and told police he was cleaning his weapon and shot by accident. police apparently didn't buy that the story that. shooting in 2010 apparently was the reason why he was discharged from the navy. in 2011 fast forward to now, what he was apparently a subcontractor, working in the i.t.department at the navy yard which may be how he gained access to the navy yard. 13 dead including the gunman. one was a washington, d.c. police officer scott williams was a canine officer.

the police chief knows him very well. they joined the department around the same time. and she spoke about visiting this wounded police officer earlier this evening in the hospital. here is what she said. >> just grateful for all of the other responder there's that helped get him out of the building and get him to medical attention. great police officer i've known him most of the 23 years he's got a stellar record. >> surrounded by family, very grateful for response that he got. and for the help he got quickly. and you know the other thing talking about is not just the washington, d.c. police and park police there were numerous agencies that responded. these agents train repeatedly with each other. on how to respond where r with incidents like this one. it's about coordinating with all of the other responding agencies including marshal service and fbi. and park police and they work

together as evidenced this whole thing played out. >> he said the incident in texas is what led to him being discharged from the navy. if i were going to give a security clearance i would say hey, why were you discharged from the navy sne. question, have you ever been arrested? it's not like if i go in depth hidden stuff. it's amazing. are we hearing who did the check and gave clearance for hewlett-packard? >> i don't have that information. but i think in today's world hear sog much about how thorough the government can be in checking up on people's back grounds and tracing people's whereabouts to learn that this man had a valid pass, utilized a valid pass to gain

access to navy skbrard access to that navy yard despite an parent criminal record not just in texas and seattle but also one in georgia, we're still looking into other possible connections to this gunman. how he passed a check when fired, after shooting incidents then having access from the navy yard is something that authorities are interested in now looking back. there is a search of the building and fbi told us they're going to be in there another 48 hours or so. but no other suspect being caught they've cleared that. they know this is the guy. >> rick, thank you. straight head you're going to hear directions from the secretary of the navy. live coverage from the navy yard

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>> greta: secretary of the navy rush together shooting scene. >> rice nis to see you. >> how did you find out? where are you? >> i was at the pentagon and heard reports of a shooting at the navy yard and put our emergency plan into motion at that point its hard to believe kit happen every time it does happen this, is especially each installation seems more important but this is

particularly, the oldest in the nation. >> well, regardless where it happens we're a family. a navy family. there is an tack on our family. and i was just at the washington nationals parking lot we're bringing in people from the navy yard. most concerns from their co-workers worrying about where they are. how they're doing. >> any idea why this building was targeted?. >> i can't say anything because it's that, an ongoing investigation. so anything about why it happened there i can't comment on. >> greta: what goes on in that build something. >> it's the naval sea systems building.

we design ships there. we do a lot of it work there. information technology work there. it's a group that designs, builds and repairs our ship autos what do you say to -- every time i'm part of these stories think if i'm in a position of leadership what in the world do you tell the families who suffered unthinkable today? >> well, our hearts were you. that this was an attack on the whole family z that we grief with you. we'll be there for you. as time passes. that, this unexplainable. it's unimaginable. but together as a family is the way to get through this,

we're mobilized and have mobilized resources we have at our command and have counselors where people from washington navy yard are being taken by bus so they can get home. i mean they don't have access to their cars and to belongings and have set up longer term things for people and they're going to need help. we'll be there. >> greta: have you spoken to the president after this happened?. >> the president called and sent his thoughts and prayers and those of mrs. obama. the white house has been checking in on a very, very regular basis. >> greta: have you stepped up security around the country? >> we've updated security alert in the washington, d.c. area.

>> greta: it does look like one guy but it's under investigation. >> it's still under investigation. so, again, whafrt motives, why it happened where it happened we'll have to wait. >> greta: coming up more live fighting constipation by eating healthier, drinking plenty of water, but still not getting relief? try dulcolax laxative tablets. dulcolax is comfort-coated for gentle, over-night relief.

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earlier at the washington navy yard we spoke with naif yeah -- navy captain. >> greta: captain first what a harrowing expeer yechblts a lot of loss of life? >> i don't know the whole extent. we were evacuated by police from the building so you probably know more about that. i do know from colleagues

dinot see, but i talked to colleagues later and they don't want to give names but i know, a colleague of mine told me a mutual friend of mine heard this. >> greta: where were you when you had an inkeling something was wrong. >> it was a normal morning i had a meeting to go over presentations we're going to give later on to a navy leadership. about my program and we heard a noise and looked at each other like that is odd and we heard noise that's sounded like gunfire and someone yells either there is a shooter or gunfire or something. that alerlts there was danger lock the doors.

the conference room i was in there is doors to the office area where peoples offices and cubes are and another door at conference room. someone in my, i don't know, who an unsung hero locked exterior doors so we were locked into the area and everybody went into interior offices or conference room and that happened between 8:00 and 8:30. we looked up and saw bullet holes above us. we stayed on the floor. most of us on our black berries trying to text each other. ways trying to make sure i knew people what that worked for me were and trying to send e mails and texts to reports to my boss to let her know

which of my people i had appoint kthed for. we were there until 10:00. the police came, got us out of the barricade, evacuated us to another building on the navy yard. got people water, food, bathroom. and medics looked over anyone who thought they might have issues there are none of my folks seriously injured one of my folks as evacuating tripped and i think his knee is in bad shape but medic as tended to him. and then, we were questioned by for what we saw by police agencies there on the navy yard. and they held us and said it was clear and we can leave the yard. i did not see the shooter or i

did not hear anything other than gunshots. >> how did people you were with respond something. >> i was proud of the folks i would say there is fear. i was scare mid self but there is not panic. we were texting and they, you know, there is a fair amount of, you know, i'd say we managed to avoid panic. >> how do you get in? >> i have no idea. very no idea how he could have gotten in. >> greta: what do you very to do? >> normal way to get in is our credentials our computer coded. front door has got an armed guard you go to a kiosk present your cred den shalls then you get a green light and walk through. >> greta: what if i'm visiting? >> there is a visitor center

before where armed guard s you'd go and call my office i co-would sign you in, you'd get a badge then boy escort you around the building. if you were scheduled for a visit but no one gets into that building that isn't escorted or isn't cleared in with a credential they're supposed to be in there. >> greta: other than security does anyone armed inside of the build something. >> only people i know that are in there are either security, and so there is building security armed and there is naval criminal investigative service has onsite officer there's is a sifting the command there are reps. i believe they keep their side arm with them. everyone in there is security or law enforcement. would be normally armed in the building. >> greta: it's tough to think a military facility to kill is

just extraordinary. >> i -- you said it. i have nothing more to add to that. it's -- it's -- still shocking. >> it is tuesday september 17th. a deadly day in our nation capitol as this man opened fire

at a naval office building in washington, d.c. leaving 12 people dead and 14 more injured. many are questioning how was he able to get into the facility to begin with? we are live with the latest. >> the devastation in colorado continues with 8 people confirmed dead following a week of historic flooding. emergency officials going door to door in a search for hundreds of people who are still missing. an incredible scene out of italy that crippled the costa concordia crude ship finally up right after 19 hour operation. the details on how they did it straight ahead. "fox & friends first" starts right now. >> dude morning to you. it -- good morning to you.

it is tuesday morning. thank you for starting your day with us. >> they are trying to figure out why a navy service and defense contract employee went on a shooting rampage at the washington navy yard killing 13 people before -- 12 people before killing himself. >> new overnight police releasing the names of 7 of those victims. michael arnold >> peert doocy one of the first on the scene. i watched all of your coverage yesterday as it continued to unfold. you did a great job. what is the latest this morning? >>