What it has to do with anything, who knows? one last question for you, pete. what do we know about the weapons that he may have had, and does that tell us anything about what it might have taken for him to get that kind of weaponry into the navy yard facility? sure, good questions. and i guess i have two answers to that. there s nothing that we know of in his past, even though he had treatment at v.a. hospitals for some psychiatric issues, nothing that would have disqualified him from buying a weapon. remember that the federal standard is a judged mentally incompetent. that s the phrase in the law, or mentally defective i think is the word that the statute uses. so, a judge has to make a finding that you have a mental problem that would disqualify you, not merely that you have psychiatric problems. so, the weapon, we believe, was purchased just within the past few days, just last week at a gun store in lorton, virginia, which is about 20 miles from washington, d.c. it takes about a
There on the very crowded interstate 95, but it s right nearby here. we believe, or at least the investigators tell me they believe that he came to the navy yard today carrying only that shotgun. that once he shot his way in, that he then grabbed two other weapons, taking an ar-15 semiautomatic weapon, perhaps from the guard station there, and then shooting a law enforcement officer and taking the officer s handgun so that by the time he was shot and killed, they recovered three weapons. the shotgun they believe he had in the first place and the other two that he picked up along the way. stunning. absolutely stunning. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. thank you very much. appreciate you being here. you bet. all right, more on who the apparent shooter was today. we ll have a live report from one of the places where he reportedly worked before coming to washington, d.c. plus, there s lots more ahead. stay with us. we are confronting yet another mass shooting, and toda
it s from his father, and that would be very, very difficult to confirm. you know, so many people responded. that s what his family says. whether it s true or not, we don t know. whether they know for sure or not, don t know. i guess we have to assume it s true. what it has to do with anything, who knows? one last question for you, pete. what do we know about the weapons that he may have had, and does that tell us anything about what it might have taken for him to get that kind of weaponry into the navy yard facility? sure, good questions. and i guess i have two answers to that. there s nothing that we know of in his past, even though he had treatment at v.a. hospitals for some psychiatric issues, nothing that would have disqualified him from buying a weapon. remember that the federal standard is a judged mentally incompetent. that s the phrase in the law, or mentally defective i think is the word that the statute uses. so, a judge has to make a finding that you have a mental pro
How he that s why he was so up close. still not 100% clear whether he was going to work at the navy yard today or whether he just was near the navy yard, but he has a navy connection. he was in the naval reserve, he was an electronics specialist. he worked in several places. he worked in ft. worth, texas. he s originally from new york. his parents still live there. as far as his criminal past, three years ago, he was arrested for firing a weapon that went into the apartment above him, didn t hurt anybody. the police questioned him. he said he was cleaning his gun but he was charged with that. and nine years ago when he was living in seattle, police charged him with shooting out the tires of a car that was driven by some workers who were parking near where he lived. he told them that the shooting was the result of what he called an anger-fueled blackout. and at the time, seattle police say they called his father, who was still living in new york, who said that his son had some anger m
Contractors on a military computer project and that they were staying in a hotel, a residence iinn right near the washington navy yard, and that s how he that s why he was so up close. still not 100% clear whether he was going to work at the navy yard today or whether he just was near the navy yard, but he has a navy connection. he was in the naval reserve, he was an electronics specialist. he worked in several places. he worked in ft. worth, texas. he s originally from new york. his parents still live there. as far as his criminal past, three years ago, he was arrested for firing a weapon that went into the apartment above him, didn t hurt anybody. the police questioned him. he said he was cleaning his gun but he was charged with that. and nine years ago when he was living in seattle, police charged him with shooting out the tires of a car that was driven by some workers who were parking near where he lived. he told them that the shooting was the result of what he called