The man identified as the gunman in yesterday’s mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard in the US capital was infatuated with Thai culture, the New York Times reported.
Aaron Alexis, 34, became interested in Thai culture while living in Texas. He had Thai friends, worked at a Thai restaurant and love the food, and said he had always felt drawn to Thai culture, according to a member of a suburban Texas Thai temple that he attended.
Alexis allegedly killed 12 people at the secure military facility before being killed by officers on the scene.
Pat Pundisto, a member of Wat Busayadhammavanara in White Settlement, Texas, told the New York Times on the phone that Alexis regularly attended Sunday services, performed Buddhist chants, and meditated. He would also engage in Songkran celebrations in April.
At the temple, he met Nutpisit Suthamtewakul, who went on to open a Thai restaurant in White Settlement in 2011, said the restaurant owner’s cousin, Naree Wilton, 51, in a phone interview. Alexis helped out at the restaurant in exchange for food and a room in Mr. Suthamtewakul’s house, the Times reported.
Photo: AFP / Fort Worth Police Department
