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Second Police Officer Was Struck During Navy Yard Shooting, Was Saved By Vest

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier provides more details about the response to last week's Navy Yard shooting spree.
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While a Metropolitan Police Department officer who was seriously wounded last week while responding to the Washington Navy Yard shooting spree continues to recover, DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier said today that a second officer was hit twice, but saved by his protective vest.

Lanier, speaking on NewsChannel 8’s NewsTalk With Bruce DePuyt, said the officer was struck twice in the chest while engaged “in the confrontation” with the gunman, former Navy reservist Aaron Alexis. “We are extremely lucky that we didn’t lose a police officer in there,” Lanier said.
Thirteen people, including Alexis when he was brought down by another police officer, were killed at Navy Yard. The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting and is still trying to figure out Alexis’s motive. While much has been said about the officer wounded in the shooting, Lanier’s statements today provide the first new bits of information in several days about how police responded. She also said she plans to release more information and a timeline about the police response in the next few days, including other details about the gunfire Alexis directed toward officers entering Building 197.
The MPD officer who was wounded, Scott Williams, remains at Washington Hospital Center, where he is listed in good condition.

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Staff Writer

Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.