NBC, CBS retracted the identity of the Navy Yard shooter

NBC and CBS were forced to withdraw the initial reports on the identity of the shooter responsible for the deaths and injuries in the naval arsenal of Washington on Monday.

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

BREAKING. @johnmillercbs advises that reports initial identified the alleged shooter as Rollie opportunity are wrong.

-Charlie Kaye (@CharlieKayeCBS) on September 16, 2013

NBC News: now you are not reporting name of shooter; Contracting that report. delete tweets

-Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) on September 16, 2013

NBC's Pete Williams said that the error came from sources that found an identification card that looked like the alleged gunman:

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

-Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) on September 16, 2013

False reports were perhaps errors in a day of confusing and contradictory information.

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

Also in HuffPost:

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