WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Aaron Alexis, the 34-year-old suspect in Monday's shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard, had "secret" clearance and was assigned to start working there as a civilian contractor with a military-issued ID card, his firm's CEO told Reuters.

"He did have a secret clearance. And he did have a CAC (common access card)," said Mr Thomas Hoshko, CEO of "The Experts", which was helping service the Navy, Marine Corps intranet as a subcontractor for a Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Services contract.

Asked when he was supposed to start work, Mr Hoshko said in a telephone interview: "That's what I got to find out, if he was supposed to start today ... It's not clear to me."