Increased Security Continues at Pentagon Following Navy Yard Shootings

The thousands of people who work at the world's largest office building in Arlington are seeing an increased security presence following Monday’s shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard.

"We've increased our security posture, not because of any specific threat, but as a precautionary measure. We're keeping a high visibility …at our entrances and around the building," Shannon Giles, a public affairs specialist for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, told Patch.

Monday’s incident left 13 people, including the suspected gunman, dead.

Up to 25,000 military, civilian and contract employees can be found at the Pentagon on a daily basis, according to the Defense Department's Washington Headquarters Services.

The mood at the Pentagon on Tuesday was "OK," Giles said.

"We're making sure we're letting our building occupants know they're safe. That's our job. From what I've observed, it feels like business as usual," she said. "Obviously, people are a shaken by what happened yesterday. But we work for the DoD… We always have to make sure things don't happen. And we're doing everything we can to make sure nothing happens at the Pentagon."

The FBI has said Aaron Alexis, an IT subcontractor at the Navy Yard, had a valid access card to enter the Navy Yard's Building 197.

The Pentagon has metal detectors at its Metro and Quarter 2 entrances, Giles said, and anyone required to pass through one would be directed to those access points.

The Pentagon is expected to release details soon on how a subcontractor would access that facility in response to inquiries from Patch and other outlets.

When asked about any long-term affects on security, Giles said, "Certainly we always have discussions when incidents like this happen in any DoD building, but I can't speak to specifics. That would talk to our vulnerabilities, which we don't do. But nothing specific is on the table yet."