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  • Fort Hood Shooting Suspect Showed No Risk of Violence

    Fort Hood gunman Ivan Lopez may have had a verbal altercation with a fellow soldier before he opened fire, killing three people and wounding 16 others, before turning the gun on himself at the army base on Wednesday, but otherwise showed no recent signs of violence, authorities said Thursday. 

    Investigators are looking into the possibility that Lopez had words with a solder in an incident “that immediately preceded the shooting,” said Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the post’s commanding general.

    “We’re trying to figure out what the trigger event was,” Milley said.

    Investigators are working to determine whether the shooting was pre-meditated, Milley told reporters.

    While the trigger for the shootings is still unclear, investigators believe Lopez’ unstable mental health history is a key factor.

    “We have very strong evidence that he had a medical history that indicates an unstable psychiatric or psychological condition,” Milley said Thursday.

    “(We’re) going through all records to ensure that is, in fact, correct. But we believe that to be the fundamental underlying causal factor,” Milley said.

    Though nothing is being ruled out by investigators at this time, there is no evidence that the shooting was linked to terrorism, national or international, Milley explained.

    Army Secretary John McHugh said the soldier saw no combat during a four-month deployment to Iraq as a truck driver from August to December 2011.

    Lopez saw a psychiatrist in March and showed no “sign of any likely violence either to himself or others,” McHugh said.

    His record shows “no involvement with extremist organizations of any kind,” McHugh added.

    Lopez was armed with a .45 caliber Smith & Wesson and turned the gun on himself when confronted by a female military police officer in a parking lot of the base, near Killeen, Texas, on Wednesday. Lopez, who served four months in Iraq in 2011, was married with four children and had arrived at Fort Hood in February.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Fort Hood Shooting Leaves 4 Dead; Gunman Sought Mental Help

    An Iraq War veteran being treated for mental illness opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, on Wednesday afternoon, leaving four people dead, including the gunman, and 16 people wounded.

    The soldier, identified as 34-year-old soldier Ivan Lopez, turned the gun on himself and died of a self-inflicted wound after opening fire at the military base where more than a dozen people were slain in an attack in 2009, according to authorities.

    Lopez was identified by U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

    “We do not know a motive,” Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley told reporters at a press conference Wednesday night.

    “But we know this soldier to have behavioral health and mental health issues,” Milley said.

    Milley also said authorities did not believe the attack was related to terrorism, but that they are not ruling anything out at this time.

    Lopez, who was being treated for depression and anxiety, went into two buildings on the base and opened fire before he was confronted by military police, Milley said.

    The shooting occurred at approximately 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Emergency personnel, the FBI and SWAT teams were called in to the base following the shooting.

    The shooter used a .45 caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol that had been purchased recently, Milley added.

    Nine of the victims in the shooting were hospitalized with gunshot wounds at Scott & White hospital in Temple, Texas. As of early Thursday morning, three victims were listed as being in critical condition.

    According to Milley, all of the shooting victims were members of the military.

    Lopez served for four months in Iraq in 2011, and was undergoing an evaluation for post traumatic stress disorder, according to Milley. Lopez arrived in Fort Hood, one of the largest U.S. Army bases, in February from another military base.

    In 2009, 13 people were killed and more than 30 wounded in a mass shooting at Fort Hood by then-Maj. Nidal Hasan, an army psychiatrist. A U.S. Senate report following the incident described it as the worst attack on American soil since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, The FBI said that though Hasan expressed anti-American sentiments prior to the shooting, he had had no ties to terrorist groups.

    Hassan was sentenced to death after admitting to the shooting during his court martial hearing in August 2013, and is now on death row.

    “We’re following it closely. The situation is fluid right now,” President Obama told reporters in Chicago.  He said that investigators would “get to the bottom of exactly what happened.”

    “We’re heartbroken something like this might have happened again,” the president said.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Fort Hood Shooting: 4 Dead, Several Injured

    A shooting that occurred at Fort Hood has left four people dead including the shooter, and several others injured. The shooter has been identified as 34-year-old soldier Ivan Lopez. Police have also said that a second shooter may be at large.

    Details of the shooting are still sketchy, but the national security team is working in the area to determine what exactly happened and a possible motive for the shooting. President Obama released a statement Wednesday evening saying,

    “The situation is fluid right now. … Any shooting is troubling. We’re heartbroken that something like this might have happened again. I don’t what on the comment on facts until we know exactly what happened. But just for now I would hope that everyone across the country keep the families of Fort Hood in our thoughts and our prayers. … We don’t yet know what happened tonight but obviously that sense of safety has been broken once again.”

    A similar incident occurred at Fort Hood in 2009 when Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan killed 13 people during a shooting. At his trial, Hasan called himself a Muslim holy warrior, and was happy to take responsibility for the shooting. He was convicted and received the death penalty in August 2013.

    The recent shooting brought back bad memories of the one that occurred in 2009, but police do not believe Wednesday’s shooting is related to terrorism.

    “The scenes coming from Ft. Hood today are sadly too familiar and still too fresh in our memories,” Texas Sen. John Cornyn said in a statement Wednesday. ” No community should have to go through this horrific violence once, let alone twice.”

    Why do you think Ft. Hood has been the site of two shootings and do you think the incidents could be related?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Fort Hood Shooting: 1 Dead, 14 Wounded

    Fort Hood Shooting: 1 Dead, 14 Wounded

    Five years ago an Army psychiatrist went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood, and Wednesday another shooting has taken place at the Texas military base.

    Today one person was killed and 14 wounded and officials at the base said the shooter is believed to be dead.

    The details about the number of people hurt came from a senior U.S. defense official who spoke anonymously because the official was not authorized to discuss the information publicly.

    Fort Hood’s Directorate of Emergency Services said it had an initial report that the shooter was dead, but that the report was unconfirmed.

    “There has been a shooting at Fort Hood and injuries are reported. Emergency crews are on the scene. No further details are known at this time,” the base said in a statement.

    President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he was “heartbroken” that another shooting had occurred at the Fort Hood Army base and described the situation there as “fluid.”

    “We are going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened,” Obama told reporters in Chicago.

    Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called the incident a “terrible tragedy.”

    “We know there are casualties, both people killed and injured,” Hagel told a news conference in Honolulu, where he was meeting with Asian defense ministers.

    “We don’t have all the facts yet. We will get those. It’s still under investigation,” he added.

    The Texas Army base was the scene of a mass shooting in 2009. Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded in what was the deadliest attack on a domestic military installation in history.

    Nidal Hasan was the shooter who was convicted in the rampage that left 13 dead and 31 wounded; a military jury sentenced him to death in August 2013.

    The death penalty was sought because prosecutors said that Hasan’s murderous rampage at the sprawling military base was a tragic and devastating loss for victims and loved ones.

    Hasan was convicted on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 charges of attempted premeditated murder.

    While Hasan could be the first service member executed by the military since 1961, the appellate process could take years.

    The victim’s family members supported the death sentence.

    “Today a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders,” said Joleen Cahill, whose husband, Michael Cahill, had retired from the military and was working as a civilian employee at Fort Hood. He was killed when he tried to subdue Hasan. “The (jury) gave him justice, and I agree with that justice.”

    Lead prosecutor Col. Mike Mulligan recounted each emotional and powerful story of victims whose lives were cut short.

    “These murderous attacks left enormous carnage: 13 dead, eight widows. One widower. Twelve minor children without a father, 18 parents lost children. Thirty soldiers wounded. One civilian police officer. Their loss, each family — tragic, difficult and different. For some, death was almost instantaneous. So quick, so lethal they never moved from their chair,” Mulligan said.

    The shooter was a Virginia-born Muslim who did not have an attorney, but represented himself. He admitted he was a “soldier of Allah” and that his attack was instigated to protect Muslim insurgents abroad.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons