Aaron Alexis Airport Confrontation: Family Says Shooting Suspect Thought They Were Laughing At Him

A family from Alabama says they had a disturbing run-in with the alleged Navy Yard shooter at an airport in early August.

Rosalind Baugh, 75, told FoxNews.com she and her family were at Virginia's Norfolk airport Aug. 4, "Just laughing and talking and he came over and said we were laughing at him."

The family, who was traveling home to Birmingham, did not know Aaron Alexis, who police identify as the man who fatally shot 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Sept. 15 before he was gunned down. After police identified Alexis as the killer, Baugh and her family saw his picture and realized he was the man who confronted them more than a month earlier.

Baugh said she and family members Wallis and Glynda Boyd were laughing at a joke that had nothing to do with Alexis. He approached them in a fit of anger, cursing at them and gesturing to suggest that he had a weapon. The family ended up calling security.

A Newport, R.I. police report from three days later confirms the family's suspicions. Alexis contacted police and told them he got into a fight with people at an airport, and that one of them "sent three people to follow him and keep him awake by talking to him and sending vibrations into his body," the report states.

Police alerted officers at the local Navy base about the incident, expressing concern for Alexis' mental health. According to the Associated Press, Navy officials did nothing about the incident because Alexis did not appear to be a danger to himself or others at the time.

Growing evidence suggests that Alexis was mentally unstable. Eang Tan, board member at the Thai Buddhist temple in Rayhham, Mass., told the Associated Press this week that in mid-August, Alexis entered the establishment and asked if he could spend the night. Temple members inquired why Alexis didn't go to a hotel, and say he responded that he couldn't sleep in a hotel because of the noises in his head.