KIRO TV is reporting on its Local TV News that Aaron Alexis had been issued a Concealed Carry Permit by the State of Washington.
Kevin McCarty: After his arrest police say they went into his grandmother's home, they found he had a loaded pistol. He also has had a licence to carry a Concealed Weapon here in Washington State. Three years after the incident he joined the Navy.
Suspect in DC shootings arrested in Seattle in 2004
Workers at the construction site later told detectives that Alexis had "stared" at workers at the job site every day for a month prior to the shooting. The owner of the construction business said he thought Alexis was angry over the parking problems created by all the construction.
Officers eventually arrested Alexis outside his home on June 3. Alexis told detectives he thought he had been "mocked" by the construction workers and that they had "disrespected him." He also claimed he had an angered-fueled "blackout" and could not remember firing his gun at the victims' car until an hour after the incident.
He also told police he had been present during "the tragic events of September 11, 2001" and described "how those events had disturbed him."
Alexis was later booked for Malicious Mischief, but the charges were later dropped on the condition he leave the victims alone, take anger management classes and pay damages done to their vehicle.
The possibility that Alexis may have had PTSD from being a 9/11 Ground Zero Volunteer could put today's shootings in a new context. PTSD and guns have been a lethal mixture taking a frightening toll, with too many ending in tragic suicides, and far fewer in violent incidents.
KNOW THE FACTS
In Washington state, nearly 6,000 people have been killed by guns in the past decade. That’s more than 10 times the number of firearms deaths in England in the same period, though that country has nearly eight times the population of our state. Only a small percentage of gun deaths are gang-related; over half are the result of suicide, and when there is a gun in the home, the risk of suicide increases dramatically. Guns are now a leading cause of death for young men 15-24.
But the stubborn fact remains that Alexis's was routinely given and a Concealed Carry Permit under Washington State law. That should raise some red flags no only here in my state of Washington, but all across the country as well.