Official: 1 dead, 14 injured in Fort Hood shooting

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No, this is NOT the 2009 incident!

http://news.yahoo.com/official-1-dead-14-injured-fort-hood-shooting-232511359.html
Official: 1 dead, 14 injured in Fort Hood shooting
4/2/14

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — One person was killed and 14 wounded in a shooting Wednesday at Fort Hood, 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 on condition of anonymity 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.

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.

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Per CNN - Shooter's name is Ivan Lopez

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http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/02/us/fort-hood-shooting/
Suspected Fort Hood shooter dead; situation ongoing
By Dana Ford, CNN

updated 7:54 PM EDT, Wed April 2, 2014

CNN) -- A suspected shooter at Fort Hood, Texas, is dead, but the situation is still considered an active scene, multiple U.S. officials told CNN on Wednesday.

The Army installation, in an evening statement, said it had an initial report that a shooter was dead, "but this is unconfirmed."

"The injured personnel are being transported to Carl R. Darnall Medical Center and other local hospitals. Numerous law enforcement agencies are in support and on the scene. The number of injured are not confirmed at this time," it said.

Fort Hood's official Twitter feed asked that all personnel on post shelter in place. Sirens were going off.

President Barack Obama has been briefed on the incident and will continue to receive updates, according to a White House press pool report. He was expected to make a statement Wednesday evening. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel also was monitoring the situation.

Sheriff's deputies from Bell County and state troopers are assisting by securing the area around the post, according to Bell County Sheriff's Lt. Donnie Adams.

Authorities in the town of Killeen, just outside the gates, are also standing by to help, said Mayor Dan Corbin.
 
"It is unclear what is going on right now," Corbin said. "We have been in touch with appropriate personnel, we are standing by with our police and ambulances, if needed. We are very concerned. Fort Hood is always there for us and we want to be there for them."

He continued: "They are used to dealing with combat situations, and I'm sure they are very capable of handling this."

Police in nearby Waco advised those on post to stay away from windows and to keep doors closed and locked.

"Injuries are being reported. Be AWARE!! If you are in the Ft. Hood Post area there is an on-going active shooter," the department tweeted.

Deke Jones, with Scott & White Memorial Hospital, told CNN his facility was receiving patients.

"I don't have a number," he said.

On November 5, 2009, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood, killing 13 people and injuring 32.

He shot fellow soldiers at the processing center. Prosecutors maintained that the American-born Muslim underwent a progressive radicalization that led to the massacre at the base.

Hasan allegedly picked that day because it was when the units he was scheduled to deploy with to Afghanistan were scheduled to go through the processing center.

The former Army psychiatrist was convicted of premeditated murder, and a military jury recommended that Hasan be put to death.

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4 dead, 14 injured in Fort Hood shooting @Yahoo News

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http://news.yahoo.com/fort-hood-gunman-sought-mental-health-treatment-084257261.html
Fort Hood gunman sought mental health treatment
4/3/14

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — An Iraq War veteran being treated for mental illness was the gunman who opened fire at Fort Hood, killing three people and wounding 16 others before committing suicide, in an attack on the same Texas military base where more than a dozen people were slain in 2009, authorities said.

Within hours of the Wednesday attack, investigators started looking into whether the man's combat experience had caused lingering psychological trauma. Fort Hood's senior officer, Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, said the gunman had sought help for depression, anxiety and other problems.

Among the possibilities investigators planned to explore was whether a fight or argument on the base triggered the attack.

"We have to find all those witnesses, the witnesses to every one of those shootings, and find out what his actions were, and what was said to the victims," said a federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to discuss the case by name.

The official said authorities would begin by speaking with the man's wife, and expected to search his home and any computers he owned.

The shooter was identified as Ivan Lopez by Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. But the congressman offered no other details, and the military declined to identify the gunman until his family members had been notified.

Lopez apparently walked into a building Wednesday afternoon and began firing a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. He then got into a vehicle and continued firing before entering another building, but he was eventually confronted by military police in a parking lot, according to Milley, senior officer on the base.

As he came within 20 feet of an officer, the gunman put his hands up but then reached under his jacket and pulled out his gun. The officer drew her own weapon, and the suspect put his gun to his head and pulled the trigger a final time, Milley said.

The gunman, who served in Iraq for four months in 2011, had been undergoing an assessment before the attack to determine if he had post-traumatic stress disorder, Milley said.

He arrived at Fort Hood in February from another base in Texas. He was taking medication, and there were reports that he had complained after returning from Iraq about suffering a traumatic brain injury, Milley said. The commander did not elaborate.

The gunman was never wounded in action, according to military records, and there was no indication the attack was related to terrorism, Milley said. His weapon had been recently purchased in the local area and was not registered to be on the base, Milley said.

Lopez was from the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico and joined the island's National Guard in 1999. He went on a peace and security mission to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in the mid-2000s, and left the National Guard in 2010 to join the U.S. Army, said Lt. Col. Ruth Diaz, spokeswoman for the Puerto Rico National Guard.

Those injured were taken to the base hospital and other local hospitals. At least three of the nine patients at Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple were listed in critical condition.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with all families involved," Diaz said. "There is loss on both sides here."

Wednesday's attack immediately revived memories of the 2009 shooting rampage on Fort Hood, the deadliest attack on a domestic military installation in U.S. history. Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 were wounded.

Until an all-clear siren sounded hours after Wednesday's shooting began, relatives of soldiers waited anxiously for news about their loved ones.

"The last two hours have been the most nerve-wracking I've ever felt," said Tayra DeHart, 33, who had earlier heard from her husband that he was safe but was waiting to hear from him again.

Brooke Conover, whose husband was on base at the time of the shooting, said she found out about it while checking Facebook. She immediately called her husband, Staff Sgt. Sean Conover.

"I just want him to come home," she said.

President Barack Obama vowed a complete investigation. In a hastily arranged statement while in Chicago, Obama reflected on the sacrifices Fort Hood troops have made — including enduring multiple tours to Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They serve with valor. They serve with distinction, and when they're at their home base, they need to feel safe," Obama said Wednesday. "We don't yet know what happened tonight, but obviously that sense of safety has been broken once again."

Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan was convicted last year for the November 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood. According to trial testimony, he walked into a crowded building, shouted "Allahu Akbar!" — Arabic for "God is great!" — and opened fire. The rampage ended when Hasan was shot in the back by base police officers.

Hasan, now paralyzed from the waist down, is on death row at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. He has said he acted to protect Islamic insurgents abroad from American aggression.

After that shooting, the military tightened base security nationwide. That included issuing security personnel long-barreled weapons, adding an insider-attack scenario to their training, and strengthening ties to local law enforcement. The military also joined an FBI intelligence-sharing program aimed at identifying terror threats.

In September, a former Navy man opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard, leaving 13 people dead, including the gunman. After that shooting, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the Pentagon to review security at all U.S. defense installations worldwide and examine the granting of security clearances that allow access to them.

Asked Wednesday about security improvements in the wake of the shootings, Hagel said: "Obviously when we have these kinds of tragedies on our bases, something's not working."

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Fort Hood Gunman 'Showed No Signs Of Violence'
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/fort-hood-shooter-showed-no-signs-violence-174218322.html#DUcnkvI
4/3/14

The Fort Hood gunman had shown no signs of violence or suicidal tendencies before he opened fire at the US Army base, officials have said.

Investigators are still trying to determine why the soldier - 34-year-old Specialist Ivan Lopez - killed three and injured 16 others before turning the gun on himself.

Lieutenant General Mark Milley said there is a "strong possibility" Lopez had a verbal altercation with another soldier or soldiers prior to the shooting.

But he urged caution against speculating on any possible motive until the investigation had run its course and said there was no indication he targeted specific troops.

On Thursday, investigators searched Lopez's home and questioned his wife, said a base spokesman.

Suzie Miller, who lived in the same apartment complex as Lopez, said few in the area knew him and his wife well because they had just moved in a few weeks ago.

She said: "I'd see him in his uniform heading out to the car every morning. He was friendly to me and a lot of us around here."

Earlier, US Army Secretary John McHugh said there was no indication that Lopez was involved with any extremist organisations.

The Army specialist had sought help for depression, anxiety and other problems, and had been undergoing an assessment to determine whether he had post-traumatic stress disorder, Lt Gen Milley said.

Lopez was from the US territory of Puerto Rico and joined the island's National Guard in 1999.

He went on a peace and security mission to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in the mid-2000s, and left the National Guard in 2010 to join the Army, said a spokeswoman for the Puerto Rico National Guard.

He arrived at Fort Hood in February from another military base in Texas, and was assigned to the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) at Fort Hood, which is a logistics and support unit.

He served for four months in Iraq in 2011, but did not see combat, officials said.

He was not wounded in action while serving overseas, but self-reported a traumatic brain injury when he returned to the US.

"He was not a wounded warrior," said Lt Gen Milley, the senior officer at Fort Hood.

"He was not wounded in action, to our records, no Purple Heart, not wounded in action in that regard," he said, referring to the military decoration awarded to those wounded or killed while serving.

According to Lt Gen Milley's account, Lopez walked into a building and began firing a .45-calibre semi-automatic pistol, which was not registered with post authorities as required.

He then got into a vehicle and continued firing before entering another building, but he was eventually confronted by military police in a parking lot.

At that point the gunman put his gun to his head and pulled the trigger a final time.

The incident was the second deadly shooting at Fort Hood in five years after 13 people were killed at the base in 2009.

President Barack Obama said he was "heartbroken" that the base had suffered again.

"Obviously this reopens the pain of what happened at Fort Hood five years ago. We know these families; we know their incredible service to this country and the sacrifices they make," the president said.

Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan has been convicted of the 2009 shooting, which also injured 30 people, and he faces the death penalty.

In statements to the judge, Hasan, an American-born Muslim, suggested he believed the attack was justified as a jihad against the US military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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Here we go again - "mental illness" and "getting a gun illegally" all wrapped into one - where have we heard this script before?

http://news.yahoo.com/fort-hood-gun-store-again-112238754.html
Fort Hood gun store again linked to base rampage

'We had nothing to do with what happened': Fort Hood gun store again tied to base shooting
4/4/14

KILLEEN, Texas (AP) -- Guns are wall-to-wall at the Guns Galore shop near Fort Hood, and so are posters: No Idiots Allowed. This Isn't a Place for Children to Play. Firearm Trafficking is Illegal.

But now that a second mass shooting at the Texas military base has been linked to guns bought at the squat brick store, which promises "3,000 Guns In Stock," the message Guns Galore clerks are emphasizing is don't blame them.

Fort Hood officials say Guns Galore, perched along the main road to the nation's largest Army post, is where Spc. Ivan Lopez bought the .45-caliber pistol used to kill three people and wound 16 others this week. It also sold a semi-automatic pistol, laser sights and high-capacity magazines in 2009 to Nidal Hasan, who then killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others in a base rampage.

Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the senior officer at Fort Hood, said Lopez bought the gun on March 1, about a month before Wednesday's attack. Hasan also bought his FN 5.7 tactical pistol not long before his rampage in November 2009.

Lopez turned the gun on himself after being confronted by police Wednesday. Before the attack, he was being treated for depression and anxiety while being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder. Milley said investigators believe Lopez's unstable mental health condition may be an underlying cause of the shooting.

Greg Ebert, a longtime salesman at Guns Galore, said the store couldn't comment on Lopez. But he bristled at anonymous angry callers and emails the store has been receiving, which he said included some asking if they're now happy more people are dead.

**Why aren't these same callers and emailers angry at the pharmaceutical industry for supplying all of these mind-altering poisons to these people like Lopez?

"We had nothing to do with what happened out here," said Ebert, emphasizing that he was speaking for himself and not the store. "If you want to blame somebody, go to the FBI and to the government at Fort Hood, and ask them why someone who was being psychologically evaluated wasn't flagged."

The 34-year-old truck driver from Puerto Rico seemed to have a clean record, but investigators are now pouring through Lopez's personal history.

Federal law generally prohibits selling guns to people who've been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility or have been ruled by a court to be a danger to themselves or others. Gun control advocates say that leaves a gaping loophole during computer background checks.

Ladd Everitt, spokesman for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, called Lopez's rampage another example of the gun industry profits taking precedence over safety. But he also cut Guns Galore a break.

"I can't possibly lay any blame at their door. Dealers are in this to make money," Everitt said. "So I don't think we should count on gun dealers to be psychiatrists or law enforcement officers. We need better laws on the books."

Business was steady at Guns Galore a day after the latest attack at Fort Hood.

Uniformed soldiers brushed past other customers between narrow rows of display cases packed tightly with handguns and old cellphones shot up by bullets. Long-barreled assault and hunting rifles stood on racks behind the main counter, where clerks in 2009 let Hasan videotape on his phone a lesson on how to reload, according to employees who testified in his trial last fall.

Guns Galore is about 2 miles outside Fort Hood, and it's the only place in the area other than pawn shops to buy firearms.

Ebert, a former police officer in Killeen, said the store counts local law enforcement agencies among its customers and said the store has a strong record complying with federal regulations.

Ebert also said he has turned away gun buyers before.

"We've refused to sell to a handful of people based on their mannerisms, their overhaul behavior — left you with the uncomfortable feeling that I'd rather not sell a firearm to this person," Ebert said.

Guns Galore is also where a soldier accused of planning to bomb Fort Hood troops at a restaurant in 2011 bought gunpowder and ammunition. The store later called police about Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, saying they got a bad feeling about him, and Abdo was arrested the next day.

"I can only control what goes on inside this facility," Ebert said. "Once a person leaves a door, it's beyond me."

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So they end up reporting THIS on a LATE Friday afternoon, when people are ready to go home for the weekend(for various entertainments), and all but turn off the media(ie-television, radio, etc) around them(meaning they don't even listen to the news from here until the weekend is over).

IOW - this is typical of them - they'll report a piece of propaganda(ie-in this case, "mental health" was a factor) when everyone's listening. But when everyone's not listening, they'll put out the truth, but it's a little too late b/c everyone is already chattering about the prior reports when they are turned out to the current news.

http://news.yahoo.com/fort-hood-official-mental-health-not-main-factor-203001318.html
Fort Hood official: Mental health not main factor
4/4/14

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — The senior officer at Fort Hood says the mental condition of the soldier who fatally shot three soldiers and wounded 16 others earlier this week was not the "direct precipitating factor" in the shooting.

The comments Friday by Lt. Gen. Mark Milley came a day after he said Spc. Ivan (ee-VAHN') Lopez's mental condition appeared to be an underlying factor.

Milley said Friday that an "escalating argument" precipitated the attack.

Authorities say their investigation has found Lopez had an altercation Wednesday with soldiers in his unit that prompted the shooting.

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So this is *news*, despite lots of eyewitnesses to this?

Fort Hood gunman acted alone: Officials @NBC News

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Army: Fort Hood suspect had requested leave
4/7/14
http://news.yahoo.com/army-fort-hood-suspect-had-requested-leave-202232270.html

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — Investigators say the rampage that left three dead and 16 wounded last week at Fort Hood was related to the shooter's request for leave from the Army post.

Army spokesman Chris Grey did not indicate during a brief news conference Monday whether Spc. Ivan Lopez was granted the leave.

Grey says the shooting spree Wednesday covered the equivalent of two city blocks as Lopez drive from one area to another on the Central Texas base randomly firing at soldiers.

Authorities have said the shooting was preceded by a verbal altercation Lopez had with other soldiers in his unit.