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© Tim Hogan/@timjhoganA Twitter user tweeted this photo showing an injured person in the area of the Washington Navy Yard.
A naval base in the heart of Washington DC was rocked by a mass shooting on Monday after at least one gunman opened fire and left 13 people dead, in the worst attack on a military base in the US since the Fort Hood killings in 2009.

As authorities struggled to piece together the details of what happened at the Washington navy yard, Barack Obama said the victims had faced "unimaginable violence".

Washington's police chief, Cathy Lanier, said one attacker died at the scene, and issued descriptions of two other gunmen suspected of being involved. But she was unable to say definitively whether anyone was responsible for the shooting beyond the gunman who had died.

It was unclear whether reports of further assailants came from early confusion at the scene or pointed to evidence of a planned and co-ordinated attack. Minutes after she spoke, police said one of the two remaining suspects had been ruled out of the investigation.

Vincent Gray, the Democratic mayor of Washington, said the motive for the shootings was unknown, but that he had no information to indicate that it was an act of terrorism.

Lanier said the two suspects thought still to be at large were spotted wearing military-style uniforms, but did not say whether they were military personnel. She confirmed that there were "at least 12 fatalities" and an unspecified number of injured during the attack, which began at about 8.15am in building 197 of the Washington navy yard.

The high-security facility houses the US naval sea systems command, a historic base on the Anacostia river, less than four miles from the White House. About 3,000 staff who work on the base and its surrounding buildings were immediately placed on lockdown. Security was tightened across Washington as the investigation continued.

Just after Lanier issued descriptions of two gunmen suspected still to be on the loose, police said one of them - a white man dressed in a tan "military-style uniform" - had been identified and ruled out of the investigation. Police were still looking for a black male aged about 50, said to have been carrying a rifle.

The motive for the attack remained unclear. It brought comparisons with the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, when Major Nidal Hasan, a psychiatrist at the Fort Hood base in Texas, killed 13 fellow service personnel in an attack that the army believes was carried out in response to US military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Comment: Hasan was sentenced to death for that 2009 'lone gunman' Fort Hood shooting just a couple of weeks ago...

U.S. soldier sentenced to death for Fort Hood shooting rampage


The "shelter-in-place" at the navy yard - the order for employees to stay where they were - was still in effect hours after the shooting, a navy official confirmed. Sailors and civilians assigned to the Washington navy yard, as well as all personnel assigned to the nearby joint base Anacostia-Bolling, were advised to stay put while authorities continue to investigate the scene.

Doctors at the nearby MedStar Washington hospital center said they were treating multiple victims of the attack. Chief medical officer Janis Orlowski said one police officer being treated had multiple gunshot wounds to his legs, while two other civilian patients were female: one shot in her shoulder, the other in her head and hand. "They are able to talk to us. They do have severe injuries but we have been able to speak with all of them," she said.

"Obviously they are in pain and in distress because of what they suffered this morning," Orlowski added.

She said she did not know yet if any more injured people would be coming to the MedStar hospital but confirmed people had been killed at the navy yard. "We understand there are individuals at the scene who will not be transported [to the hospital] because they are deceased."

Speaking shortly after the attack, Obama said: "We still don't know all the facts, but we do know that several people have been shot and some people have been killed.

"It's a shooting that targeted our military and civilian personnel. These are men and women [...] doing their job and going to work. They're patriots."

He added: "Today they faced unimaginable violence that they wouldn't have expected here at home."

In a statement the navy said the headquarters building was used by "command staff, headquarters directorates, affiliated program executive offices (PEOs) and numerous field activities".

Naval sea systems command (Navsea) is the largest of the navy's five system commands. It is a secure military facility, and it would be unusual for a non-staff member without credentials to be permitted onto the site. Clearance and security ID are typically required to access the base.

Many of the streets surrounding the yard, in the south-east of the city, next to the Anacostia river, were locked down. Helicopters hovered above the scene, and there was a huge police presence near the yard. Across the river, flights from Reagan national airport were suspended for a time.

A White House official told a pool reporter that Barack Obama was briefed several times about the "unfolding situation at the Washington navy yard".

Pentagon press secretary George Little said: "Everyone here at the Department of Defense is saddened by the incident at the Washington navy yard this morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims.

"While the Pentagon remains open, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency increased its security posture, not out of a specific threat, but as a proactive, precautionary measure," he added.