'He said nothing': Witnesses tell how Navy Yard gunman shot at them

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WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 16: Emergency vehicles and law enforcement personnel respond to a reported shooting at an entrance to the Washington Navy Yard September 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. According to the latest news report, several people were shot with the shooter still possibly active.

By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News

WASHINGTON — Two workers at the Washington Navy Yard who came face to face with the gunman in a dimly lit hallway recounted Monday how he silently raised his rifle and opened fire on them.

Don Andres, a legislative aide to Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., describes to MSNBC's Chris Jansing the scene near the Washington Navy Yard, where 12 were wounded and at least four people died after a shooting at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command.

"We're lucky he was far enough away he was a bad shot," said Terrie Durham, a civilian employee in the Office of Naval Sea Systems Command.

Durham and co-worker Todd Brundivge were in their office Monday morning when a fire alarm went off, followed by an announcement of an emergency and orders to leave the building.

"I was on the phone and someone came up to my desk and said, 'This is not a drill. Someone had just been shot. There are shots in the building,'" Brundivge said.

"So I hung up the phone and started to try to get people out of the building."

Durham said she wasn't exactly sure what was happening but knew it was a dire situation.

"Our wardens came running, yelling for everyone to get out of the building," Durham said.

"We were standing right outside the door to go to the exit and we saw a man standing down the hall," she said.

He was about 40 yards away but close enough for them to see he was clad in blue and had a weapon.

"He was a tall man, appeared to have dark skin, looked like he was in some kind of uniform and he had a rifle," Durham said.

"And he aimed at us and shot but missed, thank God."

Saul Loeb / AFP - Getty Images

A gunman opened fire Monday at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington D.C. on Sept. 16, wounding at least seven people, authorities said.

Brundivge said there was no warning.

"No words. He raised the gun and started firing," he said. "He said nothing."

The stairwell was dimly lit so she didn't get a good look at the gunman's face, but she could see how close she came to being shot.

"He aimed high and missed," she said. "I saw where the shot missed. It was a few feet ahead of us and a foot or above where we would have been standing."

She said she ran for her life, yelling to everyone else on the stairwell, "There is a man shooting in the building, get out, get out!"

Brundivge and Durham are among thousands of people who work at the Washington Navy Yard, a sprawling facility that is home to several naval commands.

Ameisha Boatwright arrived for a job interview only to find police and fire trucks with sirens screaming.

"I told myself, I'm getting outta here," she said. "I can do this interview another day. I'm just going home now — I'm scared."