Profiles: Victims in the Washington Navy Yard Shooting

Michael Arnonld, a 59-year-old Navy veteran from Lorton, was among the 12 victims of the shooter who went on a rampage Monday at the Washington Navy Yard, according to news reports.

Arnold graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the Navy for 29 years before retiring as a captain last year, according to the Navy Supply Corps Newsletter. 

According to The Washington Post, Arnold recently joined the government consulting firm LMI; his uncle, Steve Hunter, told The Associated Press that Arnold had been working at the Navy Yard on a team that designed amphibious assault ships.

Hunter said his nephew was also an avid pilot who was building a light airplane.

“It would have been the first plane he ever owned,” Hunter told the AP from Rochester, MI, Arnold’s hometown. “It’s partially assembled in his basement.”

Arnold and his wife, Jolanda, had been married for more than 30 years and had two grown sons, Hunter told the AP

“He was a loving son of his mother and his wife, and great father to his kids,” Hunter said. “It’s tragic. How can you get up in the morning and go to work and have that happen? How do bad things like that happen to good people?”

Arthur Daniels, Arlington

A man who worked for District Furniture Repair in Arlington was one of the victims Monday in the Navy Yard shootings, according to an account in the Washington Post. 

Arthur Daniels, 51, relocated and installed furniture in federal buildings. The grandfather of nine was shot in the back after he and a colleague were running away from the gunman and trying to escape on an elevator, according to The Post.

“I don’t know why they shot him,” his wife Priscilla told the newspaper. “He was a good father and hard worker.” She last saw her husband at about 6:30 a.m., about two hours before the reported gunman, Aaron Alexis, opened fire killing 12 people.

Arthur Daniels was the father of five children.

Daniels reportedly worked at the Navy Yard for the past 19 years.

Kathleen Gaarde, Prince William County

Kathleen Gaarde, a financial analyst who lived in the Lake Ridge area of Prince William County, was among the 12 victims of the gunman who went on a shooting rampage Monday at Washington Navy Yard, according to news reports.

Patrick Bolton, a neighbor, told The Washington Post that Kathleen Gaarde was an avid Washington Capitals fan who raised two children and a dog in a modest home. 

“She just helped make it a good home for her family and worked hard and provided everything her family could need,” Bolton told the Post. “They’re the kind of people you want to live next door to you.

“The mother was just the kindest lady in the world,” Bolton said. “I’m not even exaggerating. I’ve never seen her do anything but nice things for people.”

In an e-mail to The Associated Press, Gaarde’s husband, Douglass, wrote: “Today my life partner of 42 years (38 of them married) was taken from me, my grown son and daughter, and friends. 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.”

A relative told The Associated Press that Douglass Gaarde worked for the Navy until his retirement last year.