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Police are hunting two gunmen dressed in military uniform after an attack on a US naval base in which at least 12 were killed.
Police say three men launched an attack on the US Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters, building 197, at the naval yard in Washington, killing a number of people and injuring others.
One of the gunmen has been shot dead but police are now hunting another two, who are said to be dressed in military uniforms.
The men launched their attack on one of the biggest naval command buildings in the US at around 8.20am - the early morning rush as people started work.
Authorities confirmed that 12 people have been killed. Others were being treated for gunshot injuries in local hospitals.
A helicopter lifts a person off the roof as police respond to the report of a shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington, Dc
A helicopter lifts a person from the roof at the navy yard
Washington DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier said that one officer had been hit in a shoot-out with the gunmen and was in a critical condition in hospital with leg wounds. She added that one of the gunmen had been killed.
She said: "The big concern for us at the moment is that we potentially have two other shooters."
Police Chief Lanier said one of the men was white, aged between 40 and 50 and dressed in a tan navy-style uniform with a beret. He was armed with a handgun.
The second man she described as black, aged around 50 and wearing olive drab uniform. He was possibly holding a "long gun".
However, she said there was no indication that the men were actually military personnel.
Navy Sea Command Centre
The command headquarters is building 197 in the Washington naval yard
She said that there had been multiple victims of the shootings but would not confirm an exact number and said that they had yet to establish a motive for the attack.
The Naval Sea Systems Command official Twitter account was posting messages to say that there were still people inside building 197, who had yet to be rescued.
One tweet said: "UPDATE: Just informed there are still people inside Bldg. 197. Please continue to pray for swift resolution & safe evacuation."
An earlier post said: "Still hunkered down, but safe. Monitoring news reports and will let you know when we've been given "all clear" ASAP."
Washington DC Mayor Vincent C Gray said that the attack was an "isolated incident".
Witnesses described a gunman opening fire from the fourth floor, aiming down on people in the first-floor cafeteria. Others said a gunman fired at them in a third-floor hallway.
One employee at the Navy Yard, Patrica Ward, said she had just paid for her breakfast at a cafeteria when shots rang out.
"I was waiting for my friend to pay for when we heard the gun shot. It was three gun shots straight in a row, 'pow-pow-pow,'" she said.
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"Three seconds later it was 'pow-pow-pow.' So it was like a total of seven gun shots. And we just started running."
The guard "told all of us to just run, to get away as fast as you can."
Responding to questions about the level of security at the base Ms Ward said: "It's not secure enough for me."
Todd Brundidge, an executive assistant with Navy Sea Systems Command, said he and other co-workers encountered a gunman in a hallway of their building on the third floor.
"He just turned and started firing," he said.
Terrie Durham, an executive assistant, said she also saw the gunman firing toward her and Mr Brundridge.
"He aimed high and missed," she said. "He said nothing. As soon as I realised he was shooting, we just said, 'Get out of the building.'"
One man in his 60s was taken to George Washington University Hospital with a gunshot wound to his head but died shortly after arriving. Dr Babak Sarani, director of trauma and acute surgery, said his injuries were so severe they could not be survived.
Shooting At Washington DC Navy Yard Reportedly Leaves Several Wounded
SWAT teams on the roof at Navy Sea Systems Command
Janis Orlowski, the chief medical officer at Washington Hospital Center, said three victims had been taken to the hospital and while they were in a critical condition they were alert and able to speak. Two were women civilians.
She said: "They haven’t been able to give us any information about what happened to them. Obviously, they’re in pain and distress."
She said she thought the weapon must have been a semi-automatic "because they’re talking about gunshots they heard in rapid succession."
Officials at MedStar Washington Hospital Center said two shooting victims had been brought there.
Speaking ahead of a planned speech on the economy, President Barack Obama, who was being regularly briefed on the rapidly unfolding situation, said the attack was a "tragedy" and confirmed a number of people had been killed.
He said: "We are confronting yet another mass shooting and today it happened on a military institution in our nation's capital.
"It's a shooting that targeted our military and civilian personnel. These are men and women who were going to work doing their job protecting all of us.
"They are patriots and they know the dangers of serving abroad but today they faced the unimaginable violence that they wouldn't expect here at home."
He vowed to find those responsible and said that America would stand by the families of those who had lost their lives.
Shooting At Washington DC Navy Yard Reportedly Leaves At Least One Wounded
Teams on the ground at America's oldest navy yard
Sky News US Correspondent Greg Milam said: "If it is confirmed there is more than one gunman it suggests a level of coordination, of planing, maybe something more than just domestic issues, maybe you start then to question whether there is a terrorist motivation."
Tim Jones, a journalist with Sky News radio, said that when he visited the navy yard in April this year, he had found there were very few security checks to get on to the base.
He said: "I showed my passport at the security gate, and got waved through. No scanners, no pat-downs, nothing.
I was only there to visit the museum, but got totally lost on the site, and was never challenged. My impression is there's a very significant civilian workforce on this base."
A US Park Police helicopter patrols over the US Navy Yard
A helicopter in the skies above the naval base
There were reports that one of the gunmen was carrying an AR-15 rifle.The weapon used in the both the Aurora cinema shooting and the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut last year.
Naval Sea Systems Command is the largest of the Navy's five system commands and accounts for a quarter of the Navy's entire budget.
It builds, buys and maintains the Navy's ships and submarines and their combat systems.
Jesus
R.I.P to the people who are dead
