Mayor Vincent Gray said at least 12 people were killed in the Navy Yard rampage as D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier revealed one shooter was killed at the scene and authorities are looking for two other men who may also have been involved in the attack.
Authorities have identified the dead shooter as a Navy employee whose work status had been changed earlier this year, a federal government official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the record.
While that may suggest the motive was job related, authorities haven’t ruled out anything, including terrorism, the official said.
A senior federal law enforcement official said authorities were investigating whether the main shooter, a black male, was motivated by a dispute with employees at the Navy Yard.
Authorities were still clearing the building early Monday afternoon but expected the death toll could reach as high as eight people, including the shooter, said the official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.
The two at large suspects were dressed in military garb but are not believed to be U.S. service personnel, Lanier said.
One was a young white man in a khaki like uniform and the other was a black man in his 50s with a long rifle in an olive colored garb, she said.
Lanier said there were multiple fatalities at the scene but exact numbers were not immediately.
A Navy spokesman said early Monday that four people were killed and eight wounded in shooting at the Washington Navy Yard — though the death toll is expected to climb.
Capt. Ed Buclatin, a spokesman at Naval Installations Command, which is based at the Navy Yard, tweeted:
#BREAKING: 4 killed and 8 injured. One shooter down #NavyYardShooting #Navy #CNICHQ
The Associated Press reported six people were dead, though it was unclear if that figure included the shooter. More than a dozen people were injured.
Multiple media reports said at least two attackers were involved in the rampage.
Mayor Vincent Gray said officials are still working to determine the number of fatalities during a press conference at noon.
Buclatin said all the injuries occurred in the Building 197, which is home to the Naval Sea Systems Command.
