Aaron Alexis, the man identified as the Washington Navy Yard shooter, was arrested by Seattle police in 2004 for shooting out the tires of a construction worker’s car in what Alexis later described as an anger-fueled “blackout,” police said. Alexis attributed his action to trauma he witnessed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to Seattle police.
At about 8 a.m. on May 6, 2004, two construction workers had parked their 1986 Honda Accord in the driveway of their work site, next to a home where Alexis was living with his grandmother in the Beacon Hill neighborhood, according to a Seattle Police Department report.
Workers were at the construction site when a man, later identified as Alexis, walked out of the home, pulled a gun from his waistband and fired two shots into the two rear tires of their Honda before he walked slowly back to his home north of the construction site, the report said. One shot was fired into the air. Police collected three spent .45-caliber Glock shell casings at the site.
Alexis held a permit for a .45-caliber Glock pistol, according to the police report. Detectives later found the pistol and ammunition in a bedroom of the home where Alexis lived.
Alexis “confessed to the crime of discharging his weapon for the purpose of shooting out the tires” on the car, the report said.
After his arrest on June 3, 2004, Alexis told detectives he perceived that he had been mocked by the victim before the shooting, when he discovered his car had been tampered with earlier that morning. Alexis said he had been “disrespected,” leading to a “black-out” fueled by anger, according to the police report.
In addition, Alexis said could not remember firing his gun at the victims’ vehicle until an hour after the incident, police said.
Alexis, who was booked into jail for investigation of malicious mischief, also told police he was present during “the tragic events of September 11, 2001″ and described “how those events had disturbed him,” according to the police report.
Detectives later spoke with Alexis’ father, who lived in New York at the time, who told police Alexis had anger management problems associated with post-traumatic stress syndrome and that Alexis had been an active participant in rescue attempts on Sept. 11.
Workers and the manager at the construction site told police Alexis had “stared” at workers over the previous month. The owner of the construction business told police he believed Alexis was angry over the parking situation at the site..
