At least five people were killed and eight wounded in a rampage that may have involved two shooters at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday morning, Navy officials reported.
At least one shooter was killed by law enforcement officials in a building in the Navy Yard at roughly 10:30 a.m. local time, two hours after the shooting rampage began, according to senior law enforcement officials. Officials were still searching the base for a possible second shooter.
Rear Adm. John Kirby, the head of Navy public affairs, cautioned that officials had “conflicting reports” about the number of shooters.
A Navy spokesperson, Lt. Courtney Hilson, said the number of victims was still preliminary as authorities were clearing the Naval Sea Systems headquarters at the Navy Yard room by room. Workers at the sprawling base have been ordered to stay in their offices while the search continues.
As helicopters hovered above the base, first lowering stretchers to airlift victims to local hospitals and later circling the base in an apparent search effort, air traffic was briefly grounded at the nearby Reagan National Airport. Several area schools were put on lockdown.
Update, 10:32 a.m.: The Washington Post reports that at least seven people are dead, including one shooter, and DC police are looking for potentially two other shooters, described as “a white male wearing what appeared to be a khaki tan military uniform and a beret, and carrying a handgun” and “a black man, about 50, wearing an olive military-style uniform, and possessing a ‘long gun.'” Meanwhile, President Obama has spoken to the press, calling this “yet another mass shooting” and its victims “courageous Americans.”