Washington Navy Yard Shooting Will back ground checks help keep people safe? On September 16, 2013, Aaron Alexis walked into the Washington Navy yard and killed thirteen people, while injuring fourteen. Three of the fourteen people were injured by gunfire while some of the others were suffering from concussions and chest pains. Aaron Alexis was one of the thirteen people that were found dead at the scene. The ages of the victims that were killed was in the range of 46 to 73.(cnn) The causes of this disaster could vary from getting pay back for getting kicked out of the Naval Bachelor Enlisted Quarters in Newport, R.I or from many mental illnesses like depression, P.T.S.D, paranoia, and a sleep disorder. One possible cause for Alexis to go on his rampage was mental illness. Alexis was never tested for a mental illness. Even after Alexis went to a V.A. hospital with acute insomnia, which is sometimes a sign of mental disorders. No one screened Alexis there for mental illness, not even for P.T.S.D., which should be a standard procedure at V.A. hospitals. Alexis was clearly depressed and it’s often said that depression is caused from a chemical imbalance. Depression doesn’t happen from having too much or too little of certain brain chemicals. Depression has many possible causes, including faulty mood regulation by the brain, stressful life events, medications, and medical problems. Alexis was also delusional. The clues about Alexis’s mental illnesses and maybe his motive could have came from words found on his Remington 870 shotgun and found on his electronic devices.(huffingtonpost) ABC News has learned Alexis wrote the phrases "better off this way" and "my elf weapon" on the shotgun, which Alexis bought from a gun store a couple days before the shooting. Stories of him complaining that microwaves were being sent through the hotel ceiling to keep him awake is a story of someone with signs of psychosis which is a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so messed up that contact is lost with reality. Investigators are trying to figure out the meaning of why the words were on the gun, especially whether "better off this way" was a sign that Alexis wanted to be gunned down by the police. Alexis father also said that his son was a first responder during the 9/11 attacks and suffered from post-traumatic stress Disorder, and found it difficult to control his anger. Could screenings help people like Alexis, and keep from shootings like this from happening?(newyorker) There are better screening tools available now because tragedies like the Alexis shooting causes people to produce better tests to help people figure out there mental illnesses he or she might have. Tragedies like the Alexis shooting causes people to want to do more for people like Alexis. The Jed Foundation, set up by Phillip and Donna Satow after their son took his own life as a college sophomore. They made up screening for college students for depression, and has turned up numbers of students at risk for suicide.Some people don't understand why people do this. Some people cant help it. Most of the time the motive to things like this is mental illnesses or even getting back at someone that did wrong to you.(newyorker) Right after the shooting happened another possible cause for this was him getting kicked out of the
