WORKPLACE VIOLENCE NEWS – continued
Tampa Woman Sues in Washington Naval Yard Shooting Death A Tampa woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Navy, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and two defense contractors (The Experts, a Fort Lauderdale company that hired the gunman, and Hewlett-Packard, which hired The Experts as a subcontractor) over her sister's death in the Sept. 16 Washington Navy Yard shooting. Mary Frances DeLorenzo Knight, a civilian cybersecurity expert for the Navy Sea Systems Command, was gunned down at the Washington Navy Yard in the nation's capital. She was one of 12 people shot by Navy veteran Aaron Alexis, who was working at the building as a contractor for The Experts. The suit alleges the government was negligent in allowing a security breach and in the way it dealt with Alexis, who had two previous arrests for gun violence and a well-documented history of delusional and aggressive behavior. The government knew Alexis was delusional, dangerous and should never have been released from the VA medical center weeks before the shooting, the suit says. Alexis carried a sawed-off shotgun and a hundred rounds of ammo into the navy yard without undergoing any screening. Knight's two adult daughters and sister, Patricia DeLorenzo, are seeking a total of $37.5 million. "This is an ongoing action and it would be inappropriate to comment further,‖ said Lt. Cmdr. Courtney Hillson, a spokeswoman for the Navy. ―The Navy remains committed to providing continued support to victims and families of this tragic event.‖
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Navy Yard Gunman's Doctor Before Rampage: 'No Problem There' The gunman who killed 12 people in last year's rampage at Washington's Navy Yard convinced Veterans Affairs doctors before the shootings that he had no mental health issues despite disturbing problems and encounters with police during the same period, according to a review by The Associated Press of his confidential medical files. Just weeks before the shootings, a doctor searching for the source of the gunman's insomnia noted that the patient, worked for the Defense Department but wrote hauntingly, "no problem there." The AP obtained more than 100 pages of treatment and disability claims evaluation records for Aaron Alexis. They show Alexis denying any mental health issues. He also directly denied suffering from stress, depression or having suicidal or homicidal thoughts, even though he privately wrote during the same period that he was being afflicted by ultra-low frequency radio waves. The dichotomy between Alexis' apparently even-keeled interactions with his doctors and the torment he was experiencing outside the hospitals is the center of debate about whether the Veterans Affairs Department could have better recognized the need to intervene in his life with mental health care before the shootings. Congress and the Pentagon are investigating the shootings, including whether faulty security clearance procedures allowed him to get and maintain his job. Some lawmakers have said Alexis fell through the cracks at the VA and should have been treated by mental health professionals, but they have stopped short of specifying what government doctors should have done differently.
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Want to Contribute an Article or get your research published or get an expert opinion on a situation you are dealing with? Contact Barry Nixon at
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