What We Know About the Navy Yard Victims

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As the dust begins to settle in Washington, D.C. after Monday's tragic Navy Yard shooting that left 13 dead, including the shooter, the focus finally turns towards the victims lost. He's what little we know about the victims so far. 

Only eight of the twelve people killed by Aaron Alexis have been identified so far. (Update: D.C. Police released the names of the remaining four victims. They are now included below.) They all lived varied lives with families, friends, and beloved pets left looking for answers in the wake of another mass shooting. Taken from the few profiles available so far, these are the victims of the Navy Yard attack. 

Name: Michael Arnold, 59 

Family: Married for 30 years to his wife, Jolanda. They had two sons. "He was a loving son of his mother and his wife, and great father to his kids," Steve Hunter, Arnold's uncle, told the Associated Press.

Occupation: Retired Navy commander, but was working at the Navy Yard designing vessels such as the USS Makin Island, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship. 

Name: Sylvia Frasier, 53

Family: The Washington Post profiled Frasier's family's struggle to gather information about her in the wake of the shooting. The story is tense, moving, frustrating and tragic, and it deserves your attention. 

Occupation: Worked at the Navy Yard as a network security administrator with the Naval Sea Systems Command. 

Name: Kathy Gaarde, 62

Family: Gaarde's husband, Douglass, told the AP the couple were planning to live well in retirement together soon before her death. "Today my life partner of 42 years (38 of them married) was taken from me, my grown son and daughter, and friends," he wrote in an email. "We were just starting to plan our retirement activities and now none of that matters. It hasn’t fully sunk in yet but I know I already dearly miss her." Gaarde has two children: a son, Christopher, and a daughter, Jessica, who lives at home with her parents. "She just helped make it a good home for her family and worked hard and provided everything her family could need," a neighbor said. 

Occupation: Worked at the Navy Yard as a financial analyst.

Name: Arthur Daniels, 51

Family: Daniels had five children and nine grandchildren. "I don’t know why they shot him," Priscilla Daniella, his wife, told the AP through tears. "He was a good father and hard worker."

Occupation: Daniels relocated and installed office furniture in government buildings. He just so happened to be stationed at the Navy Yard on Monday when the shooter opened fire on the same floor where he was working. While running for an elevator, Daniels was shot in the back.

Name: John Roger Johnson, 73

Family: Unknown.

Occupation: A civilian who worked for the Navy, according to an unidentified neighbor. "He loved children. He loved our grandchildren. No one could ask for a better neighbor," the neighbor said.

Name: Frank Kohler, 50

Family: Kohler was married with two daughters. 

Occupation: Unknown.

Name: Kenneth Bernard Proctor, 46

Family: Recently divorced with two teenage sons.

Occupation: Proctor didn't work inside the building where Alexis Aaron opened fire. He was a civilian utilities foreman at the Navy Yard with 22 years of work experience with the federal government. But he often ate breakfast in that building's cafeteria. "It was a routine thing for him to go there in the morning for breakfast, and unfortunately it happened," Evelyn Proctor, his ex-wife, told the AP.

Name: Vishnu Pandit, 61

Family: Lived with his wife in North Potomac for 20 years. The couple owned an Irish Setter, too.

Occupation: Unknown.

Name: Mary Francis Knight, 51

Family: Unknown.

Occupation: Unknown.

Name: Gerald Read, 58

Family: Unknown.

Occupation: Unknown.

Name: Martin Bodrog, 54

Family: Unknown.

Occupation: Unknown.

Name: Richard Michael Ridgell, 52

Family: Unknown.

Occupation: Unknown.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.