STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Navy secretary orders security review at Navy, Marine Corps bases
- NEW: Investigators will conduct broad investigation, former FBI official says
- Gunman may have sought psychological help, law enforcement sources say
- Authorities recover three guns
Washington (CNN) -- As investigators scoured military contractor Aaron Alexis' past for clues to what sparked his shooting rampage at Washington's Navy Yard, surviving victims healed and the nation paused to mourn its latest mass shooting.
"To my knowledge, there is no explanation for the violence that occurred yesterday," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday after a moment of silence honoring the 12 people who died when Alexis opened fire inside Building 197 of the Navy Yard.
A former sailor with a history of outbursts and what two Navy officials described as a "pattern of misconduct" in the service, Alexis had recently contacted two Veterans Affairs hospitals, possibly seeking treatment for psychological issues, two law enforcement sources told CNN.
If you have information regarding Aaron Alexis or the Navy Yard shooting, call 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit the FBI's website.
Friends also said he was upset about pay and benefits issues from a previous contracting stint, but said they never expected such violence from him.
But investigators have publicly offered no clues as to what his motive may have been. Terrorism hasn't been ruled out but seems unlikely, Washington Mayor Vincent Gray told reporters Monday.
The Navy Yard was closed to all but a handful of essential Navy employees Tuesday as authorities worked a detailed investigation of the shooting scene.
Authorities have recovered three guns from the scene -- a shotgun and two handguns, federal law enforcement sources say. Autopsies of the victims are under way, Washington's Chief Medical Examiner's office said.]
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Tragedy at the Washington Navy Yard
And Navy Secretary Ray Malbus ordered a two-phase review of security at all Navy and Marine Corps bases in light of questions about how Alexis was able to gain access to the building while armed.
"The first will be a quick look to ensure all physical security requirements are being met; the second will be a deeper review to ensure the right physical and personal security requirements are in place," a U.S. Navy official told CNN.
Meanwhile, three of the eight victims wounded in the shooting were doing better Tuesday at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, doctors said.
One woman, shot in the head, was in good condition, said Dr. Jane Orlowski, chief medical officer at the hospital. Two others, including a Washington police officer, were in fair condition, she told CNN's "New Day."
Orlowski said the woman who suffered the head wound told her she was underneath her desk when the gunman came by. The bullet grazed the finger of her upheld hand and went into the scalp behind her right ear, she said.
"Thankfully, it sort of hit the bone and bounced off," she said. "She is an extremely lucky young lady."
Investigation
In addition to ongoing activity at the historic base, FBI agents were at the hotel where Alexis had been staying. They could be seen bringing out cardboard boxes and loading them into SUVs.
Although police said Monday they were confident that Alexis had acted alone, the investigation into what happened, and why, will be far-ranging, said Shawn Henry, a former executive assistant director of the FBI and president of the security firm Crowdstrike Services.
"This will be a domestic investigation across the United States," he told CNN. "They'll be looking at people that have known him for many years, people that he might have gone to school with, people he served in the military with. They'll be looking at bank records, they'll be looking at cell phone records, trying to piece together all of those pieces."
Investigators will want to know if anyone at the Navy Yard had contacts with Alexis before the shooting and if it seemed he was conducting reconnaissance at the base, Henry said. They'll also want to develop a precise timeline of the incident to help understand how he was able to carry it out.
Authorities were also appealing to the public for help.
"No piece of information is too small," said Valerie Parlave, assistant director in charge of the Washington FBI Field Office. "We are looking to learn everything we can about his recent movements, his contacts and associates."
Checkered past
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Before working as a military contractor, Alexis had served in the Navy as a petty officer working on electrical systems.
The Navy moved to discharge Alexis in 2010 because of a history of disciplinary issues, including eight instances of misconduct while on duty, a U.S. defense official told CNN.
The incidents involved insubordination, disorderly conduct, unauthorized absences and at least one instance of intoxication, the official said.
Those military offenses were not enough to warrant a general discharge, and without a civilian conviction, the military resorted to an honorable discharge in January 2011, the official said.
Most recently, Alexis was in the Navy's Ready Reserve, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told CNN.
Ready Reserve status is a designation for former military members who don't actively serve in a Reserve unit but who can be called up if the military needs them.
In addition to the military issues, he also had run-ins with police: In Seattle, he was arrested in 2004 for shooting out the tires of another man's vehicle in what Alexis later told detectives was an anger-fueled "blackout."
DeKalb County, Georgia, authorities said Tuesday they had arrested Alexis in 2008 on a disorderly conduct charge, police there said Tuesday.
A friend and former housemate, Kristi Suthamtewakul, told CNN's "New Day" that she had noticed personality changes in Alexis over the last few months, but nothing indicating the potential for such violence.
"Aaron was a very polite, very friendly man," she said.
Among other problems, he had been frustrated about pay and benefits issues after a one-month contracting stint in Japan last year, Suthamtewakul said.
"He got back and he felt very slighted about his benefits at the time," she said. "Financial issues. He wasn't getting paid on time, he wasn't getting paid what he was supposed to be getting paid."
"That's when I first started hearing statements about how he wanted to move out of America," Suthamtewakul said. "He was very frustrated with the government and how as a veteran he didn't feel like he was getting treated right or fairly."
Another friend, Texas resident Michael Ritrovato, said Alexis had recently been frustrated with his employer over pay.
But Ritrovato said his friend never showed signs of aggressiveness or violence, though he played a lot of shooting video games online.
"It's incredible that this is all happening, because he was a very good-natured guy," Ritrovato said. "It seemed like he wanted to get more out of life."
Shooting at Washington Navy Yard
Witness: People pushed their way out of building
Monday's violence began at 8:20 a.m., when several shots broke the workday calm of the southeast Washington facility.
D.C. Metropolitan Police officials told CNN that Alexis drove onto the installation and parked before walking a short distance to Building 197, where the killings occurred.
Alexis had an active ID and entered the base legally, a federal law enforcement official said.
Once inside, according to an official, Alexis made his way to an overlook above the atrium and opened fire.
Two witnesses told CNN affiliate WJLA-TV that they heard a fire alarm go off in the building where they worked, then saw a man with a firearm down the hallway as they left the building.
"He aimed the gun and fired our way," Todd Brundidge told WJLA.
People frantically ran down stairs to get out of the building, Brundidge said.
"They were pushing. They were shoving. People were falling down," he told WJLA. "As we came outside, people were climbing the wall trying to get over the wall to get out. .... It was just crazy."
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