DHAKA: The Washington Navy Yard has begun returning to nearly normal operations, three days after a gunman killed 12 people.

The Navy installation re-opened at 6am local time on Thursday, but traffic was blocked from reaching the main gate because a tractor-trailer tried to make a U-turn, and its load shifted.

Navy spokesman, Lieutenant-Commander Sarah Flaherty, said Thursday will be a regular work day, except for Building 197, where the shootings occurred, and the base gym.

The gym is being used as a staging area for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate Monday’s rampage in which former Navy reservist Aaron Alexis gunned down 12 people before being killed by the police.

Law enforcement officials are still trying to determine a motive for the shooting.

Officials have said the 34-year-old gunman was grappling with paranoia, hearing voices and convinced he was being followed.

A month before the shootings, he complained to police in Rhode Island that people were talking to him through the walls and ceilings of his hotel room and beaming microwave vibrations to deprive him of sleep, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1745 HRS, SEPT 19, 2013
RoR/RIS