Washington Navy Yard killer was a paranoid insomniac who 'heard voices in his head': Gunman begged to be treated for schizophrenia a month ago but Navy didn't take away his security clearance
Washington Naval Yard gunman Aaron Alexis suffered a host of serious mental illnesses prior to his shooting rampage on Monday that claimed the lives of 12 people U.S. law enforcement officials revealed today.
Alexis, 34, sought treatment at the Veterans Administration for paranoia, insomnia and possible schizophrenia in August - but despite his psychiatric problems the Navy had not declared him mentally unfit which would have rescinded his security clearance and impacted his ability to purchase firearms.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing criminal investigation, law enforcement officials said that Alexis' family were aware of his mental problems, which included hearing voices in his head.
Sources with the investigation into the mass shooting told CNN that Alexis had recently made contact with two Veterans Administration hospitals for his psychological issues.
In the past Alexis has previously claimed to be suffering from PTSD after helping rescue efforts in New York following the 9/11 terror attacks.
Gunman Aaron Alexis was shot dead by responding officers after he opened fire inside a Navy facility around 8:20 a.m. on Monday morning, killing 12 people aged 46-73.
It emerged today that he used three guns during the massacre, one of them an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle - the same weapon used in the Sandy Hook and Aurora mass shootings.
Sources told
News4 in Washington D.C that surveillance footage showed that he began his attack with a shotgun, but was found with a 9mm pistol and an AR-15 assault rifle.
NBC News correspondent Pete Williams is reporting Alexis purchased a shotgun in Lorton, Virginia during the past week or so.
Alexis is assumed to have seized two firearms from two victims on the military base on the Anacostia River in Washington D.C.
He was killed in one of several running gun battles with police after he entered the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters and started picking off victims in a cafeteria from a fourth-floor atrium, witnesses said.
This comes as it was claimed that Alexis was a 'hardcore drinker' who loved to play violent video games, a close friend revealed.
Nutpisit Suthamtewakul said on Monday that he had known Aaron Alexis for three years and that they were drinking buddies. Alexis worked at Suthamtewakul's Happy Bowl Thai restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas and for a time lived with the owner and his wife.
Friend Michael Ritrovato said that he had watched Alexis playing violent video games that involved shooting. Mr Suthamtewakul said that he would bring his friend food during gaming sessions that would last for hours.
Mr Ritrovato, a 50-year-old government worker and New York native, said that Alexis, an African-American, had complained to him that he was the victim of racial discrimination.
However Mr Suthamtewakul said that his friend was a recently-converted Buddhist who liked to meditate.
The Happy Bowl owner said that Alexis had moved out of his home around May after there was tension with Mr Suthamtewakul's wife over their pet cats.
He said he had not heard from Alexis in the weeks before the shooting and had believed he was flying to Japan as part of his government contractor job.
Ty Thairintr, a congregant at Wat Budsaya, a Buddhist temple in Fort Worth which Alexis would attend, said: 'We are all shocked. We are nonviolent. Aaron was a very good practitioner of Buddhism. He could chant better than even some of the Thai congregants.'
Thairintr said Alexis told him he was upset with the Navy because 'he thought he never got a promotion because of the color of his skin. He hated his commander'.
FULL:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2423409/Washington-Navy-Yard-killer-paranoid-insomniac-heard-voices-head-Gunman-begged-treated-schizophrenia-month-ago-Navy-didnt-away-security-clearance.html