Navy Shooter Was in Reserves

Aaron Alexis, the man accused of killing 12 people and wounding at least eight at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday, was in the Navy Reserves and was a practicing Buddhist who once lived in a temple outside Ft. Worth. Alexis was discharged from the Reserves in January 2011 for a “pattern of misconduct,” a Navy official told The Washington Post, although another official said Alexis was given a “general discharge.” Alexis, 34, worked for Hewlett-Packard as a subcontractor and had been scheduled to start work at the Navy yard later this month. Though friends describe him as “such a nice guy,” Alexis had a dangerous police record: he had been arrested twice, once in 2004 for shooting at the tires of a neighbor’s car and again in 2010 for firing a bullet into his Ft. Worth apartment.