Despite seeking psychiatric help because he was “hearing voices”, the gunman who killed 12 people at the Washington Naval Yard was not stripped of the security clearance he used to gain access to his killing ground.

34-year old Aaron Alexis had a valid pass to get into the highly secured installation because he was an information technology employee with a defense contractor.  But he had been suffering a host of serious mental problems, including paranoia and a sleep disorder, and had been hearing voices in his head, and last month began treatment at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), because he was a former reservist. 

This wasn’t just shared with a mental health professional.  On 7 August, Alexis had traveled to Newport, Rhode Island, where he informed police he was being “followed” by three people who were keeping him awake “by talking to him and sending vibrations into his body”.

Despite this, Alexis’ troubles didn’t chart on the Navy’s radar, and superiors did not declare him mentally unfit and rescind his security clearance.

Despite earlier witness statements about an assault weapon, investigators now say there’s no evidence he had one.  Alexis entered the building with a legally purchased shotgun, and some “acquired” one or more handguns in the process of killing people.