the rubble or our sins and the walls kept tumbling down in the city oh where do we begin that we love the rubble ♪ ♪ bring darkness from above if you close your eyes does it almost feel like ♪ ♪ nothing changed at all and if you close your eyes does it almost feel like you've been here before how am i gonna be an ♪ ♪ optimist about this how am i gonna be an optimist about this if you close your eyes does it almost feel like ♪ ♪ nothing changed at all eh eh oh eh oh eh eh oh eh oh eh eh oh eh

oh eh eh oh eh oh ♪ ♪ eh eh oh eh oh eh eh oh eh oh eh eh oh eh ♪ oh eh eh oh eh oh this is bastille's album "bad blood." >> jimmy: i want to thank amy poehler, stephen merchant. apologies to matt damon, we ran out of time. tomorrow night, aaron paul, hannah ware and music from jim james. thank you for watching. "nightline" is next. good night. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪

tonight on "nightline" -- the latest on the fbi's desperate search for clues about the gunman. what turned aaron alexis from civilian contractor to mass murderer. the survivors -- for the employees of building 197 it was the beginning of a workday like any other until bullets and questions began flying. how many shooters on the loose? how to escape? new details on the decisions and daring rescues that saved lives as pandemonium rained. >> these big cats are kings. >> in the trees. >> and money makers of the jungle. but there is a fight for survival going on and it is not what you would expect. we'll go on a special safari

with the tiger tourists.

>> announcer: from new york city, this is "nightline" with bill weir. >> thank you for being with us. yesterday we knew he was a 34-year-old former naval reservist. today we know he reported hearing voices in his head and recent leap bought a shotgun. tragically we can only connect the last two after aaron alexis killed 12 people and injured eight mr. at tore at the washin navy yard monday morning. the country tries to make sense of the senseless while a dozen american families prepar to bury people they love. and once again it looks like warning signs were missed. here is abc's senior national correspondent jim avila on the latest on the continuing coverage of the navy yard shooting rampage.

>> rickey: it was an-- >> it was an amazing sight. a police helicopter hovers into range on purpose. hovering above the building tops, lowering a rescue basket to tactical police below pulling people to safety. >> what was the urgency going on that you -- would do something so risky or dangerous? >> we had people on the rooftop that needed to be evacuated. that's the main priority at that point to get the people off the rooftop. >> they didn't know much about the killer then just that he was on the attack and he might have one or two accomplices. so mike abate leaned out of copter, an m-16, the officers lowering the basket. how many times have you had to actually had a rifle in your hand while doing a rescue? >> rifle for a rescue this would

be a first. >> what was the information you had going in about what was going on below? >> i just knew there was an active shooter. >> one or did you think there might be more? >> initially, it was heard, potentially there might be two. >> now we know what they were dealing with. just 30 feet below the rotors what turned out to be one gunman on ape shooting rampage. law enforcement authorities aaron alexis was in a final descent into madness and the signs were all too obvious. just last month, august 7th, 6:00 in the morning, while alexis was already working as a contractor on a mill terry base he called the new port police in rhode island with a delusional tale. documented in a police report obtained by abc news. he described the confrontation with an unidentified person who had sent three people to follow him and to keep him awake by talking to him and sending

vibrations to his body through a microwave machine. he switched hotels three times that night trying to escape the voices. new port authorities contacted naval station police. but it is not clear exactly what act, the military took. late tonight, law enforcement sources tell abc news, alexis sought treatment from the va in both rhode island and washington december for insomnia. just the latest in a decade-long string of disturbing incidents. three arrests and series of military infractions. despite all this, alexis went to work for a government computer contractor at the washington navy yard using a secret security clearance he received after joining the navy. he cam e off to the d.c. area, august 25th. 17 days after hearing the voices in rhode island. today, one day after alex igs was shot and killed -- alexis was shot and killed after

brutally costing 12 others their lives, the fbi would not talk about their mental state? >> can you give us any guidance if this young man was seeking any psychological treatment? >> i can't comment. >> we have new details on what alexis was up to two days before his murderous rampage. saturday, september 14th. alexis visit itted sharpshooters a gun store and firing range in lorton, virginia, 20 miles from washington, d.c. he fired an ar-15 assault rifle at a practice range and purchased a represent imington . at the navy yard he entered the front door with a valid security pass carrying a duffel type bag hustling to a bathroom on the fourth floor. out of into the hallway, shooting away. from there down to the third floor. standing on a catwalk overlooking the atrium. and shooting down into the food court cafeteria. and finally, down the stairwell to the first floor. killing a security guard, before

taking his handgun. meanwhile on the roof, sergeant burchell and sergeant tolson are executing the most dangerous kind of helicopter rescue. low rg a hoist to the rooftop of building 197 to help an injured woman in desperate need of immediate medical attention. >> hoist operations are one of the most challenging of our mission profiles if not the most challenging. it puts the most amount of strain on the aircraft. it requires the greatest level of crew coordination. >> at risk of becoming targets of the active shooter, the team hovers over the roof and had just minutes to make their move. >> while i am lowering this basket. i am doing so from a moving helicopter. and winds change. so it is very important that we maintain our position over the victim. because if we were to move and that pumd the basket. she wasn't properly loaded in there. we might take our self out of position or worse still -- you

know -- create an unsafe situation for the victim. >> they reached the woman who has a serious shoulder injury and is bleeding badly. she is conscious and they rush her to medstar hospital. >> she did describe the suspect for us. and her, her where abuts as sab last knew them. i commentcommented, sunny was c posed and brave. >> with amazing team work they are able to air lift four people to safety. >> we are definitely not heroes. we saw a lot of heroes out there. we are guys we did our part. >> despite the heroism, aaron alexis couldn't be stopped until it was too late. a determined killer. john weaver, 13-year veteran of the navy yard could not believe his eyes as he watched alexis methodically murder six of his friend right their whey worked. >> i heard a really loud bang. two second later i heard a loud bang. i realized somebody is in here

and they're shooting people. so i popped my head up. and i saw him pointing his gun at my friend. and -- and he shot her. >> weaver ducked behind his cubicle, pulled the cabinet to block the entrance. while hiding beneath his desk called 911. but the gunfire would not stop. >> a couple more shots went off. a shotgun. using the shotgun. i saw him with the shotgun. i couldn't believe it. he was proceeding to walk through the building and slaught people. i probably heard 30 shots. so then -- the fire alarm went off. that was my signal to get out of there. so i, jumped up. pushed the cabinet away. ran away. went down to the end of my corridor, mary was laying on the ground. >> mary francis knight was john weaver's boss. >> he looked all business, you

could see the jaw clenched. when he looked at her, he looked straight at her, clenched that jaw, and just boom. like -- you know. it was kind of look just business to him it seemed. >> a dozen innocent dead. a harsh reality that still has this grown man trembling as he talks. >> the people he killed were so nice. they did not deserve to die a horrible death like they did. it was -- it was tragic. >> for "nightline," jim avila, in washington. >> our thanks to jim. coming up next in the jungles of india, these tigers are under threat. but it's not for the reason you would think.

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there must be a grim cosmic punchline the tyiger happens to live in some of the crowded corners of the planet where disappearing from anything is virtually impossibleexploding h. hard for a big cat where it is to stay still thee and risk death by poacher and brave the crowds and stay alive. taking us deep into the jungle and this conservation debate, here is abc's bob woodruff for our series into the wild. >> tigers coming up. did you hear that?

it is an adrenaline rush you won't find in any zoo. in the jungles of northeast india i am in hot pursuit of one of the world's most xotic aexot beasts, india's great bengal tiger. to the left. to the left. in the trees. in the tree. do you see him? just as we catch up we are joined by a paparazzi of fellow thrill seekers. more than a dozen vehicles packed with tourists all stalking the same cat. it is a scene critics call obscene. and traumatizing for the animals. but now support for so-called tiger tourism is coming from a very unlikely place. the world's top conservationists who say it is the only way to keep the cats from vanishing forever. india's tiger is on the brink in a country with nearly 1,000 people per square mile there are fewer than 1,700 left in the

wild. an epic battle for survival. sometimes the cats fight back when humans move in on their territory. but more often they end up the trophies of poachers. we have come to the front lines of the war. the national park. beautiful. >> this has become one of the best places to see tigers in the world. >> our guide, a tiger conservationist and owner of one of the many hotels here. he leads "nightline" producer jake whitman and i on a three-day journey to meet india's tigers face to face. a. >> a lot day all day today. >> few people have spent as much time with tigers in the wild as singh has. >> one of the animals you never get tired of. >> singh has been coming to the park since he was 7, witnessing playful moments between siblings

and intense battles over territory. >> i doubt if any other creature can come close to the tiger and its magnificence, its regality. so -- [ indiscernible ] coming from that direction. follow it. this is how we usually track our animals. we listen to sound of the jungle. the jungle is always talking to you. we usually find the predator. >> not long ago this safari would have been illegal. last year india's supreme court banned all tiger tourism. scenes like this sparked a court challenge. some thought the tigers' way of life was being threatened by all the gawkers. it was a devastating blow to the locals who rely heavily on the money tiger tourism brings into their economy. by onest ma estimate, a single generates $130 million in

revenue over its life span. hundreds of people? >> thousand. >> that includes singh whose hotel caters to man tourists who come here. >> the only industry in this town. >> india's high court since lifted the ban under strict guidelines. you can only stay on these roads, right? we are not able to go off the road at all. the jeeps and buses have been allowed to return, but only 40 vehicles at a time. twice a day. for three hours. but singh says that is enough to scare the poachers away. >> there is a great demand for this animal and its body parts. we're just hoping -- we were asked why don't you go to an area heavily visited. there are too many people. too many vehicles there. it is the main food for the tiger. >> back on our journey we see and hear signs that a tiger is

close. so that car in front, started its engine. turned around. means they think it is there too. >> they're really excited. >>en the trees. in the tree. when i find my tiger surrounded by the kay ychaotic crush of tos angling for a good shot. but my producers search is far more successful. a private encounter with two big male cats. >> they are always back into the water. and keep their front paws in the spot. he would weigh close to 400, 300 to 400 pound. >> when one cat stand up to take notice, singh assures jay there is no reason to worry at least not yet. >> the minute the ears go flat that means you are coming to close. back off. the photographs that you see doesn't do justice to what happens on the ground. i think it disturbs us more than

it disturbs the animal. if the animal is any way disturbed it will move away. disappear in the bush. or it will make sure that you move away in a hurry. you can never get enough of it. >> by now the time limit is nearly up and under the strict tourism rules it is time to leave the tigers in peace. >> three tigers today. i think that was, pretty satisfactory afternoon. >> in order to ensure its survival, if more people come and see the tigers, people will be more attuned to preserving this animal, this magnificent beast. >> bob woodruff for "nightline" in india's national park. >> such gorgeous animals. thanks to bob woodruff for that. when we come back we will

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i'll see you tonight for dinner. the last word kathy reid shared with her husband gerald early yesterday morning as he left for work at the washington navy yard. no one ever imagines the 35 year marriage will end in a madman's

gunfire. it is impossible for any of us to imagine what kathy and a member of a dozen families are doolg with dealing with tonight. in a grim ritual we focus on the shooter for answers in the hours after a slaught like this. let us not forget mr. read, or sylvia frazier who held a second job at wal-mart because she looked working with people. arthur daniels had nine grand kids, kathleen gaarde, birdwatcher, hockey fan and wife of 38 years. by all accounts, kenneth proctor was a loving dad as was frank kohler, and mike ridgel, mary delorezno knight was getting ready for the marriage of her daughter. at 72, j.j. johnson could have given