- Lt Gen. Mark A. Milley confirmed shots rang out at the Killeen, Texas, base at 4p.m. local time and that military police responded within 15 minutes
- Milley said the shooter, identified earlier as Ivan Lopez, 34, entered one building and fired shots at individuals then returned to a vehicle before entering a second building to fire more shots
- He turned his .45 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol on himself after a heroic female military police officer approached and engaged him, Milley said
- Milley confirmed the married shooter had served in Iraq for four months in 2011, and was being treated for depression and anxiety
- He was also in the process of being assessed for post traumatic stress disorder, though Milley insisted he had not yet been officially diagnosed
Four people are dead and 16 people injured after a uniformed soldier with suspected PTSD opened fire on Fort Hood military base, where 13 people were killed in a massacre in 2009.
In a Wednesday night press conference, Lt Gen. Mark A. Milley confirmed shots rang out at the Killeen, Texas, base around 4p.m. local time and that military police responded within 15 minutes.
Milley said the shooter, identified earlier as 34-year-old Ivan Lopez, entered one building and fired shots at individuals then returned to a vehicle before entering a second building to fire more shots.
He finally turned his weapon, a .45 caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol, on himself after a heroic female military police officer approached and engaged him, Milley said.
'It was clearly heroic what she did. She did her job and she did exactly what we would expect from a US military police,' he said, though didn't identify her.
Milley confirmed the married shooter had served in Iraq for four months in 2011, and was being treated for depression and anxiety. He was also in the process of being assessed for post traumatic stress disorder, though Milley insisted he had not yet been officially diagnosed.
Shedding light: Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, III Corps and Fort Hood commanding general, addresses news media at Fort Hood military base near Killeen, Texas Wednesday night
Mental health: Lt. Gen. Mark Milley revealed the soldier was being treated for mental health problems
'We do not know a motive. We know he
had behavioral health and mental health issues and was being treated for
that,' he said, adding that the shooter had only been at Fort Hood
since February this year, when he transferred from another installation
in Texas.
He was not in the process of being transitioned out of the military due to his mental health issues, Milley said.
'Obviously we are digging deep into his background, criminal history...' Milley said.
The gunman was assigned to the 13th Sustainment Command expeditionary unit.
Milley said that while investigators wouldn't rule anything out, there was 'no indication this is related to terrorism.'
Investigators at the federal level, state level, local law enforcement and army police are all working together in the investigation, he said.
'Our thoughts and prayers go out to the injured and their families and the killed and their families. That is our focus now,' Milley added to reporters.
'Events in the past have taught us many things,' he said, referring to 2009's tragic shooting. 'We know the Fort Hood community is strong and resilient and... we will get through this.'
Police: Law enforcement officials with guns drawn approach a building at Fort Hood where a shooting was reported Wednesday late afternoon
Injured: Patients were rushed to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center and Scott & White Memorial hospital in Killeen, Texas
Secure: A Bell County Sheriff's Department official stands near his vehicle as cars are checked at the Bernie Beck Main Gate at Fort Hood, following the shooting
Emergency: A medical evacuation helicopter makes an approach to Fort Hood, Texas, Wednesday, April 2, 2014, as a Texas Department of Public Safety Helicopter, left, flies behind. Four people were killed and 16 injured at the base in a horrific mass shooting
In a press conference shortly after, Scott & White Memorial hospital chief medical
officer Dr Glen Couchman updated the media on the condition of the wounded. He said eight patients were being treated at the Killeen hospital -- seven men and one woman.
Another patient will be arriving shortly. Two have already undergone surgery and are in the ICU.
The patients, who are all in the military, range from mild to extreme in their conditions. The injuries vary from single to multiple gunshot wounds to the extremities, abdomen, chest and neck.
'This is another sad day for central Texas,' Dr Couchman added.
It was earlier reported that there had been two shooters, though Fort Hood officials later confirmed that there was just one.
President Barack Obama said in a press briefing from Chicago: 'I can assure you we are going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.
'Obviously this reopens the pain of what happened at Fort Hood five years ago. We are heartbroken that something like this might have happened again. I just hope everyone across the country is keeping the families and the Fort Hood community in our thoughts and our prayers.'
Weapon: The shooter used a .45 caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol similar to this one
Tense scene: About 90 police cars are on scene, according to a witness, as well as helicopters and some 20 ambulances
Shaken: Lucy Hamlin and her husband, Spc. Timothy Hamlin wait for permission to re-enter the Fort Hood military base, where they live, following a shooting
Ford Hood: The Bell County Sheriff's Office confirmed to CNN around 4p.m. local time Wednesday that there was gunfire at Ford Hood, pictured, and that military police were responding
Shooting: Fort Hood tweeted for all those at the base to shelter in place
According to NBC's Brian Williams, the shooting started after an argument between two soldiers. This has not been confirmed. Milley did not know whether the shooter knew his victims or whether the attack was premeditated.
A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case by name told the Associated Press: '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.'
The official said authorities would begin by speaking with Lopez's wife and also expected to search his home and any computers he owned.
Ivan Lopez's neighbor told NBC News that his wife became hysterical when his name was announced on TV and left with investigators.
The neighbor said Lopez moved into the apartment three weeks ago with wife and young daughter, about 3. 'They seemed real sweet,' neighbor said.
The shooter entered building 33026, which is the Medical Brigade Building and shot at soldiers within the building before returning to a vehicle, a grey Toyota Camry.
He targeted more military personnel in another building before again returning to the vehicle, where he was engaged by the female cop.
Milley told reporters, 'He was approaching (the military police officer) at 20 feet, put his hands up and reached under his jacket, pulled out the .45 caliber, she engaged and he put the gun to his head.'
His body was found in the parking lot where he was engaged by the officer.
Milley said the shooter, who he didn't identify because his family were yet to be notified, had reported a traumatic brain injury when he returned from duty in Iraq in 2011.
However, the commanding general confirmed that the gunman was not wounded in action and did not earn a purple heart.
Milley explained that base protocol required all weapons to be registered on base.
Heartbroken: President Barack Obama pauses as he makes a statement about the shooting during a press briefing in Chicago Wednesday
Tragedy: U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel described the shooting as a 'tragedy' during a news conference on the flight deck of the USS Anchorage
Twitter: Local police were communicating news of the shooting via Twitter
Frantic: Krystina Cassidy, left, and Dianna Simpson attempt to make contact with their husbands who are stationed inside Fort Hood
Transfixed: Soldiers watch Fort Hood news from Fort Irwin
Searches: A military police officer stops a car at Fort Hood, Texas, after a shooting on the Army base
'This weapon was not registered on base,' he said, adding that concealed weapons were not, and should not, be allowed.
A witness told News 10 that about 20 shots were fired in a post motor pool in the area of Motor Pool Road and Tank Destroyer Boulevard. The witness said he saw at least three people struck by bullets, and all three were taken to hospital.
Another
said 'soldiers were jumping over the fence' to get away from the spray
of bullets. Scott & White officials said at least one soldier was
treated for superficial injuries inflicted in this manner.
About 90 police cars were on scene, according to a witness, as well as helicopters and some 20 ambulances.
'More and more cars are turning up to this situation,' the witness told KCEN TV at the time. Another witness, Fiona Oshana, took cell phone video of the incident.
He said he saw police escort a group of at least 40 soldiers, civilians, women and children out of a support operations building at gun point and told them to drop down on their knees and patted them down.
KCEN TV said it was getting reports of victims in the Battle Simulation Center on 65th and Warehouse. Witnesses said there appeared to be some sort of standoff.
The base, which is located about 60
miles north of Austin in Killeen, was put on lockdown and people
were told to stay sheltered and away from doors and windows. Warning sirens were sounding to alert people of the incident. The lockdown was lifted around 8p.m. local time.
David Ross, a base official, said the base was 'completely sealed' and military police searched every building to determine whether there was another shooter.
The Fort Hood community is reeling after the senseless shooting, with many asking themselves 'how did this happen again?'
Last shooting: U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, pictured, a psychiatrist who had become a radical Muslim while serving in the military, killed 13 people and injured dozens more inside the Texas Army base. He is on military death row
Map: Fort Hood, pictured in this aerial shot, is the largest military base in the US
On November 5, 2009, it was the location of the deadliest mass shooting ever on a U.S. military installation.
U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, a psychiatrist who had become a radical Muslim while serving in the military, killed 13 people and injured dozens more inside the Texas Army base.
Twelve of the dead were soldiers, including a pregnant private who pleaded for the unborn child's life.
More than 30 others were wounded in the 2009 attack on the Texas Army post, where investigators collected more than 200 bullet casings.
Hasan, a Virginia-born Muslim, said the attack was a jihad against U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He represented himself at a military trial after clashing with his appointed attorneys, was sentenced to death in August.
Today's gunfire comes just days after it was revealed the FBI was on the lookout for a recent Army recruit who it believes was planning a 'jihad against U.S. soldiers' inspired by the 2009 Ford Hood massacre.
According to an alert sent out by the FBI's Kansas City Division on Friday, they are searching for a man identified as Booker who had told friends of his 'intention to commit jihad.'
Booker, also known as Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, was recruited by the U.S. Army in Kansas City, Montana, in February 2014 and was scheduled to report for basic training on April 7.
Post a Comment