Washington : The mother of the gunman who shot dead 12 people at a U.S. navy base this week said Wednesday she doesn't know why Aaron Alexis opened fire, but she is glad he can no longer hurt anyone else.
Cathleen Alexis read a brief statement inside her New York home, her voice shaking. She did not want to appear on camera and did not take questions.
“I don't know why he did what he did, and I'll never be able to ask him why. Aaron is now in a place where he can no longer do harm to anyone, and for that I am glad,” Cathleen Alexis said. “To the families of the victims, I am so, so very sorry that this has happened. My heart is broken.”
Her son was killed in a shootout that ended a rampage that lasted more than half an hour.
His motive was not known. Law enforcement officials and others have said Aaron Alexis, 34, heard voices and believed he was being followed. He recently told police in Rhode Island he heard voices harassing him, wanting to harm him. He couldn't sleep. He believed people were following him, using a microwave machine to send vibrations to his body.
He was a naval defense contractor, and on Aug. 7, police alerted officials at the Newport Naval Station about his call. But officers didn't hear from him again.
By Aug. 25, Alexis had arrived in the Washington area, continuing his work as an information technology employee for a defense-related computer company. He suffered from serious mental problems and was undergoing treatment from the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the law enforcement officials.
But Alexis wasn't stripped of his security clearance, and he kept working.
