Alleged Navy Yard Shooter Worked Under Major IT Contract

The alleged shooter in Monday's mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard worked as a subcontractor to a large federal information technology contractor. 

Officials at HP confirmed that Aaron Alexis, 34, of Fort Worth, Texas, worked on a major Navy information technology project. He was killed in the course of the attack.

In a statement issued to news organizations, HP stated: "We are deeply saddened by today’s tragic events at the Washington Navy Yard. Our thoughts and sympathies are with all those who have been affected. Aaron Alexis was an employee of a company called 'The Experts,' a subcontractor to an HP Enterprise Services contract to refresh equipment used on the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) network. HP is cooperating fully with law enforcement as requested."

HP Enterprise Services won the $10 billion NMCI contract, which serves 750,000 Navy and Marine users, in 2000. In Fenruary, the Navy announced it would increase the ceiling value of an NMCI bridge contract with HP from $4.9 billion to $6.1 billion, with an option to extend it from April 2014 to September 2014. At the time, Navy spokesman Ed Austin said the service boosted the value of the NMCI Continuity of Services Contract and added the extension option to ensure that it can complete transition to its $5 billion Next Generation Enterprise Network -- or NGEN -- contract.

The Washington Post reported that Thomas Hoshko, CEO at The Experts, said that Alexis appeared to have contractor credentials that would have allowed him onto the Navy Yard. 

Alexis had a security clearance that was updated in July, the Post reported. He was discharged from the Navy in 2011, after he was arrested a year earlier on gun-related charges.

Bob Brewin contributed to this report.