Working at the Washington Navy Yard a short distance from where at least 12 people and one gunman were killed, the son-in-law of a Villager working there worried about his friends nearby, inside the building where the shooting started.
“I know a lot of people in that building. They haven’t released the names of those killed or injured yet (as of 5:30 p.m. Monday), but I guarantee you I know some of them,” said Mike Juras. Mike is married to Village of Caroline resident Harriet Chesnutt’s daughter, Amy Juras. Harriet is the fiancé of Villages-News.com columnist, Jim Strothman.
Mike, an engineer, works on nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy. He and his family reside in Annapolis, Md.
According to wire reports, at least 13 people, including one gunman, were killed, and the police are looking for other potential suspects. The shootings occurred Monday morning at a naval office building not far from Capitol Hill and the White House, police officials said.
“I work in a different building, about a block away. They blocked off our building and we were locked down. We ate from vending machines. I continued working (on projects he was assigned to), using my cell phone,” Mike said.
Meanwhile, his wife, Amy Juras, who sells homes for a local real estate firm, crawled into bed Monday morning with their new puppy dog as soon as she heard the news that shootings occurred. She and her puppy watched the action on CNN-TV during the day. She was much relieved when Mike called to say he was safely secured in a barricaded building, and she let her friends and family know he was ok on her Facebook page and via phone calls.
Altogether, Mike was locked into his Navy yard building about eight hours, he said.
Mike finally returned home safely Monday evening. “We didn’t panic. That place has mostly people in the military, or people who work with the military, so they knew what to do,” he said.
Frank Criste of the Village of Bridgeport at Miona Shores worked at the Naval Sea Systems Command which is located within the Navy Yard.
“The security systems in place there are very good,” said Criste who had worked there as a civilian employee. “If the shooter was able to get in there, he had to have known the system.”
Criste was taking a ride on a pontoon boat up the St. John’s River Monday morning when he got an email about the shooting from a Naval Sea Systems Command colleague.
Like so many others, he was in shock and disbelief.
“It’s a huge place. You have engineers, accountants, technicians. People of many, many different skills,” Criste said.
The Washington Navy Yard was established on October 2, 1799, the date the property was transferred to the Navy. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy.
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