Navy Yard Shooting: Aaron Alexis Arrested In 2010 Gun Incident

Navy Yard shooting suspect Aaron Alexis reportedly was arrested in 2010 in a gun incident in Fort Worth, Texas.

As we reported previously, Aaron Alexis has been identified by authorities as the alleged Navy Yard shooter in an incident that left at least 12 people dead in Washington, D.C. Alexis — who was apparently killed in a police gunbattle — was a 34-year-old from Fort Worth, Texas, who recently began work as a civilian contractor, authorities said. FBI officials say they believe that Aaron Alexis, a former Navy reservist, used the identification badge of a man who used to work at Navy Yard, which may have led to some incorrect initial reports.

According to a police report uncovered by The Smoking Gun, Alexis was arrested on September 4, 2010, for allegedly firing a shot through the floor of a neighbor’s apartment. Alexis told police at the time that he was cleaning his gun when it went off accidentally. Authorities subsequently declined to prosecute him.

At the time, the neighbor in question said that she was terrified of Aaron Alexis and told the responding officer that the gunshot was intentional. Evidently he had complained to her in the past about too much noise coming from her apartment.

Alexis told police “that he was trying to clean his gun while cooking and his hands were slippery” and that “he began to take the gun apart when his hands slipped and pulled the trigger discharging a round into the ceiling.” He added that he didn’t notify police or even check to see if the neighbor was okay because “he couldn’t see any light through the hole.”

Alexis apparently also has a misdemeanor disorderly conduct arrest on his record.

Following up the Navy Yard shooting, the FBI website is actively requesting information about Alexis, who the agency says “is believed to be responsible for the shootings at the Washington Navy Yard in the Southeast area of Washington, D.C., around 8:20 a.m. on September 16, 2013.”