On September 16, 2013 thirteen people were killed at a shooting at the Washington Navy Yard in Southeast Washington, DC. Of the thirteen killed, one is known to be Aaron Alexis, a 34-year- old military contractor from Texas, who died after his encounter with security. The FBI has ruled out any other shooters, but they are still trying to find out motives and any other connections. The event began around 8:20 AM that Monday in the building of the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command.

Witnesses describe people pushing others out of the building trying to escape as a black male wielding a shotgun began shooting into the crowds of people.

Eight other people were injured in the event.

This also marks the twentieth mass killing incident in 2013 in the US. These are very troubling facts, especially hearing that Alexis was a part of the US military to begin with. Obama called the shooting a “cowardly act” that targeted military and civilians serving their country. Even though this shooting shook the nation, it’s only going to be a matter of weeks before most of the populace forgets about this horrible tragedy and moves on, which begs the question, do we really care?

With this many mass killings in 2013 alone, it’s hard to say, but one can just hope that the next one isn’t close to home.