NBC, CBS Retract Identity Of Navy Yard Shooter

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

NBC and CBS were forced to retract initial reports about the identity of the shooter responsible for the deaths and injuries at the Navy Yard in Washington on Monday.

Both networks identified the same man as the shooter, and then had to walk those reports back:

BREAKING. @johnmillercbs advises the initial reports identifying the suspected shooter as Rollie Chance are wrong.

— Charlie Kaye (@CharlieKayeCBS) September 16, 2013

NBC News: we are now NOT reporting name of shooter; retracting that report. deleting those tweets

— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) September 16, 2013

NBC's Pete Williams said the error came from sources who found an ID card that looked like the suspected gunman:

.@PeteWilliamsNBC says name circulating "is not the shooter," but the name of a man who dropped ID card. #NavyYardShooting

— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) September 16, 2013

The false reports were perhaps the most prominent errors in a day filled with confusing and contradictory information.

The shooter was later identified as Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old from Fort Worth, Texas.

Also on HuffPost:

Subscribe window._taboola = window._taboola || [];_taboola.push({mode:'autosized-1r-organic',container:'taboola-autosized-1r-organic'});_taboola.push({mode:'autosized-1r-sc',container:'taboola-autosized-1r-sc'});window._taboola = window._taboola || [];_taboola.push({flush:true});