- Federal security assessment conducted over the past year pointed out that contractors were given too much access at the Navy Yards
- The report will be released in full within the next month but early excerpts were leaked today following shooting that left 12 victims dead
- Shooter Aaron Alexis was able to get inside the government building with his ‘legitimate’ ID from his work as a contractor
PUBLISHED: 21:41 EST, 16 September 2013 | UPDATED: 21:45 EST, 16 September 2013
Budget cuts may have been the cause for lax security at the Washington D.C. Navy Yards where 12 people were shot dead and eight others were injured on Monday morning.
A yet-to-be-released government audit reveals that federal oversight investigators concluded that the reduced security measures at the base left security risks unaddressed.
A report by the Department of Defense Inspector General’s office shows that they were concerned about the access that would be granted to outside contractors- like that of Aaron Alexis, the suspect who was killed by police during the Monday morning shooting.
Gaining access: A yet-unreleased report shows that officials were aware of possible holes in security procedures at the Navy Yards, where a shooting spree on Monday left 12 victims dead as well as the shooter
Piecing together information: SWAT agents remained on the scene for much of Monday (pictured), hours after Alexis was shot by one of the responding officers
The report states that the Navy ‘did not effectively mitigate access control risks associated with contractor installation access’ to the Navy Yards.
Caught and killed: Aaron Alexis, 34, was identified as the shooter and had ‘multiple engagements’ with police firing shots at the officers during the shooting spree Monday
Time Magazine published excerpts from the report after having been read portions by an unidentified federal official who had access to the Inspector General’s findings.
The security risks are placed squarely on the Navy administrators who were trying ‘to reduce access control costs’.
The process of gaining access to the administrative facility- where about 3,000 people work- is under severe scrutiny.
In a Monday night press conference, FBI assistant D.C. director in charge Valerie Parlave said that they concluded he had legitimately accessed the building as his status as a contractor would have given him sufficient credentials to enter unquestioned.
‘He utilized a valid pass,’ Ms Parlave said during the press conference.
Alexis, 34, became a full-time Navy reservist in 2007 but was dismissed in 2011 following a series of ‘misconduct’ violations.
As a contractor for a group working for a subcontractor used by Hewlett-Packard, Alexis should not have had the proper identification to be allowed into Navy Yard’s Building 179 where he began shooting.
Another problem with Alexis that should have been flagged up by the security access system is that he had two prior arrests- one in 2004 for shooting someone’s tires in an anger-fueled ‘blackout’ and another in 2010 when he said that he accidentally fired into a neighbor’s apartment while cleaning his gun.
The security assessment report cites the fact that a number of people with criminal histories were able to bypass the Navy Yard’s security without any alarm.
Worrying: FBI investigators determined that Alexis gained access to the facility legitimately, using the ID he was given as a sanctioned contractor who was working on the site
Time reports that the audit cited 52 instances where ‘convicted felons received routine unauthorized installation access, placing military personnel, attendants, civilians in installations at an increased security risk.’
The research into the security inefficiencies at Navy Yard began in September 2012 and carried on through August of this year. The final report will be published within the next 30 days.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2423212/Navy-Yard-shooting-Security-Washington-Navy-Yard-lax-budget-cuts-official-report-written-weeks-shooting.html#ixzz2f7KeeKuS Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
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