Members of a Washington
DC Swat team who the BBC has learned were ordered not to respond to
Monday's Navy Yard shootings have yet to be contacted by the
authorities.
The Capitol Police tactical response team was told by a
supervisor to leave the scene instead of aiding municipal officers,
sources told the BBC.Meanwhile, the department has installed a new leader of the elite unit. No reason has been given for the decision.
Gunman Aaron Alexis killed 12 people.
The BBC has also learned that four members of the highly trained team have applied for temporary leave, as they "grapple" with the aftermath of the incident.
The Capitol Police department has not yet granted the request, nor given approval for them to use their own paid time off.
Navy Yard shooting timeline
- 8:00 (12:00 GMT): Aaron Alexis parks car in a multi-storey car park opposite Navy Yard and enters Building 197 using security pass. He moves to a fourth-floor bathroom and removes a shotgun from a bag.
- 8:15: Alexis leaves bathroom and begins shooting people at random in hallways and offices.
- 8:20: Reports surface of active shooter at Navy Yard.
- 8:36: A Capitol Police Cert team arrives at Navy Yard and is asked by a Metropolitan Police officer to join the search for the gunman. They are instructed by a supervisor to leave the scene.
- 8:50: Armed police arrive and engage Alexis, according to FBI Director James Comey. All 12 victims are believed to be already dead or dying. Running-battle with police ends in Alexis' death.
Members of the Containment and Emergency
Response Team (Cert) are typically debriefed "right away, at the very
least the following day" after an incident, a Capitol Police source
said.
"[They] haven't even been given the courtesy of a debrief…
They have not even been given an answer as to why the decision was made
that they should not respond," the source added.Another Capitol Police source close to the incident told the BBC: "No-one's talked to these officers since this happened."
On Thursday, members of the tactical unit, which has several dozen members, were told that it had a new leader, a Capitol Police source said. It is not clear why the command shake-up occurred.
Four Cert team members wearing full tactical gear and armed with HK-416 assault weapons arrived on scene at Navy Yard at 08:36 (12:36 GMT) on Monday, after reports surfaced of an active gunman at the complex at 08:20.
According to sources, an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), Washington DC's main municipal force, told the Capitol Cert officers they were the only police on site equipped with long guns, and requested their help stopping the gunman.
When the Capitol Police team radioed their superiors, they were told by a watch commander to leave the scene, the BBC was told.
On Thursday, FBI Director James B Comey Jr told ABC News it took roughly half an hour for armed police to arrive and engage Alexis. All 12 victims were killed within that time.
Capitol Police sources suggest "lives may have been saved" if the Cert team had been allowed to intervene.
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