PHOTOS: Navy Yard shooting
In 1996, Great Lakes became the only basic training facility in the Navy. Alexis went through basic training from May 8 to July 10 in 2007.
Alexis' basic training lasted two months from May 8 until July 10, 2007. Part of his training was with firearms. The ABC7 I-Team has learned Alexis already had numerous legal problems involving guns. While living in Seattle in 2004, Alexis was arrested for allegedly using a Glock .45-caliber pistol to shoot out the tires of a car. In 2010, police in Fort Worth, Texas took his mug shot after he fired in shots into a neighbor's apartment.
"He's not aggressive for me. He had a gun but it didn't mean he was going to kill people. He had a gun, he had a concealed license. He had everything legal. And that is stupid if he shoot that gun. His own gun. I didn't think he was gonna do that," said Oui Suthamtewakul, Alexis' ex-roommate.
While investigators are still looking at his background and possible motives for Monday's shooting spree, his father has said Alexis, who lived in Brooklyn at the time, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after helping rescue victims from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Officials at the largest training station in the Navy would not comment on the specifics of the shooter. As for security at Great Lakes, Navy public affairs says they're taking all necessary precautions. Beyond that, officials will not publicly comment about any possible extra security inside the base or at the gate.
Some people who live on the base say they are not worried about their own security there. Some military wives said it is the type of shooting that can happen anywhere.
