3,000 Employees Work at Site of Navy Yard Shootings

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By Fran Berkman2013-09-16 17:34:09 UTC

A U.S. Navy spokeswoman said the site of Monday's Navy Yard shootings is an "administrative building" for its systems commands for subs and ships.

"It's more of an administrative headquarters than anything," she told Mashable.

See also: Credible Sources for Navy Yard Shooting News

The spokeswoman, who asked not to be identified by name, declined to elaborate on the possible implications of the shooting that occurred at the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters Building in Washington, D.C. She also didn't comment on why a shooter might target that particular building.

The facility's staff consists of about 3,000 employees who work to "engineer, build, buy and maintain ships, submarines and combat systems," according to an official release. Together, the Naval Sea Systems Command employs 60,000 "civilian, military and contract support personnel" with an annual budget of nearly $30 billion — a quarter of the Navy's entire budget.

The building itself is located in the southwest section of the Washington Navy Yard.

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The Navy Yard has been in operation since the early 1800s, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Here's an aerial photo of the yard taken in 1918.

Violence struck the Washington Navy Yard around 8:20 a.m. ET Monday. The U.S. Navy confirmed several fatalities as a result of at least one shooter infiltrating the Naval Sea Systems Command building.

Chief Cathy Lanier, of the Metropolitan D.C. Police, said that one shooter had been killed, and the department was looking into the possibility that two other shooters are at large as of 12:20 p.m. ET Monday.

We will update this post with any new and relevant information regarding the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters Building.

Image: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Topics: navy, shooting, U.S., US & World