The
soldier behind Wednesday's deadly shooting at Fort Hood was being
evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder, and had seen no combat
while deployed in Iraq three years ago.
Also, the shooter bought his gun from the same place the 2009 Fort Hood shooter got his weapon.
Army
officials Thursday afternoon identified the killer as Spc. Ivan Lopez,
34, a Puerto Rican father of three who authorities say had no record of
misbehavior. Wednesday's tragedy at the Texas Army base left four people
dead, including the gunman, and 16 injured.
"We have very strong
evidence that he had a medical history that indicated an unstable
psychiatric or psychological condition," Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, head of
the Army's III Corps at Fort Hood, said of Lopez. "There was no
indication that he was targeting specific people."
Milley hinted
at a motive for the shooting. "There may have been a verbal altercation
with another soldier or soldiers," he said. "There is a strong
possibility that that immediately preceded the shooting." MORE: Alleged shooter was not required to register weapon STORY: Tragedy again touches Fort Hood community STORY: Military plays catch-up on PTSD STORY: 4 dead, 16 wounded in Fort Hood attack MORE: Fort Hood shooting comes less than 5 years after earlier attack MORE: '09 shooting led to Pentagon review of base security
Lopez purchased his gun on March 1.
Last
year, Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan was convicted and sentenced to
death in the Nov. 5, 2009, attack at Fort Hood on his fellow soldiers as
they waited inside a crowded building on the base. Thirteen died and
more than 30 were wounded, and it remains the deadliest attack on a
domestic military installation in U.S. history.
The Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Wednesday night traced the
gun used in Wednesday's attack to a local gun shop, said a federal law
enforcement official not authorized to comment publicly. The official
confirmed that the gun had been purchased at Guns Galore, the same shop
that sold a weapon to Hasan.
Lopez enlisted in the Army in June 2008 and served four months in Iraq as a truck driver.
"His
records show no wounds, no involvement — direct involvement — in
combat," said Army Secretary John McHugh, the U.S. Army's top civilian
official. "As Gen. Milley said, no record of Purple Heart or any injury
that might lead us to further investigate a battle-related TBI
(traumatic brain injury) or such."
Milley said Lopez had "self-diagnosed" a traumatic brain injury. "He was not wounded in action," Milley said.
On
Thursday, McHugh said the suspected shooter had two deployments,
including the one in Iraq. Lopez enlisted as an infantryman and later
switched his specialty to truck driver.
Lopez, who was on a
variety of prescribed drugs including Ambien, had not yet been diagnosed
for post-traumatic stress disorder. But he was also undergoing
treatment for depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance and a variety of
other issues, McHugh said.
"He was seen just last month by a
psychiatrist," McHugh said Thursday. "He was fully examined. And as of
this morning, we had no indication on the record of that examination
that there was any sign of likely violence, either to himself or to
others. No suicidal ideation."
Out of respect for Lopez's family
and the integrity of the investigation, Milley said he would not release
any more details about the soldier's medical status. He did add that it
was too early to tell if Lopez received adequate mental health
treatment.
Vets, Docs Worry Fort Hood Shootings Will Deepen PTSD Stigma
By Bill Briggs
The
word “PTSD” had barely left the mouth of Fort Hood’s commander late
Wednesday when, across the nation, many veterans with those symptoms and
doctors who treat the malady understood they faced a renewed battle: a
resurgence of the stigma that comes with that diagnosis.
The
Fort Hood tragedy –- 16 wounded and four killed, including identified
shooter Ivan Lopez, a soldier being evaluated for PTSD –- is precisely
the type of event that makes combat veterans cringe. Many worry they’ll
be further mislabeled as dangerous time bombs, as the next to snap, and
that post-traumatic stress will again be misrepresented and
misunderstood as a condition that sparks public, violent outbursts.
“That
is not what post-traumatic stress is or what it does,” said Ingrid
Herrera-Yee, a clinical psychologist in the Washington, D.C. area who
treats veterans diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other
mental health issues as well as their family members and civilians. Her
husband, Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Ian Yee, spent three combat
deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Yes,
there is anger and irritability (associated with PTSD), but it’s
usually internalized. You’re more likely to see it as someone who is
withdrawn, anxious and numb, who’s lost interest in life. Some veterans
explain it to me this way: ‘The last thing you want is to go out and
lash out,” said Herrera-Yee, adding: “Just like any victims of a trauma
–- rape or domestic violence -– they can become fearful of their
surroundings, but they’re not going to react angrily toward their
surroundings. For them, it’s all about avoidance.”
"You’re
more likely to see it as someone who is withdrawn, anxious and numb,
who’s lost interest in life. Some veterans explain it to me this way:
‘The last thing you want is to go out and lash out.'"
For
years, Pentagon brass and branch commanders have urged troops and
veterans to seek mental-health help if they feel the need, while
repeating the message that, if they do see a doctor, they will not be
viewed as weak but as strong. That campaign seems to have finally dented
the macho-military mantra that every soldier can handle his or her own
business. Many veterans are turning to doctors to begin addressing
post-service anxiety issues, often fueled by repeated or long
deployments.
An
Iraq war veteran who was grappling with mental health issues opened
fire at Fort Hood, Tex., in an attack that left four people dead and 16
wounded Wednesday afternoon, according to preliminary law enforcement
and military reports. The gunfire sent tremors of fear across a
sprawling Army post still reeling from one of the worst mass shootings
in U.S. history.
Many basic details about the shooting remained
unclear in the chaotic hours after the first calls for help around 4
p.m., but senior U.S. law enforcement officials said the incident did
not appear to be linked to any foreign terrorist organizations. The
shooter was among those who died, the officials said.
The
officials identified the shooter as Army Spec. Ivan Lopez, 34, a
military truck driver, who was dressed in his standard-issue green
camouflage uniform. Lopez opened fire in two locations on the vast
central Texas post, inside a building housing the 1st Medical Brigade
and in a facility belonging to the 49th Transportation Battalion.
Police
spent Wednesday night searching his apartment in Killeen, the city that
abuts the Army facility. Gen. Mark A. Milley, the commander of Fort
Hood, said the soldier, whom he did not identify by name, served four
months in Iraq in 2011.
Milley said the shooter “had behavioral
health and mental health issues.” He said the soldier, who self-reported
a traumatic brain injury and was taking anti-depressants, had been
under examination to determine whether he had post-traumatic stress
disorder. “We are digging deep into his background,” Milley said.
Milley
said the soldier opened fire with a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson
semiautomatic pistol that was purchased recently but was not authorized
to be brought on the post. He was eventually confronted by a female
military police officer. He put his hands up but then pulled out a gun
from under his jacket. “She engaged,” Milley said, and then the soldier
put the gun to his head and shot himself.
The shooting was the
third major gun attack at a U.S. military installation in five years,
leaving the nation grappling with the prospect of yet more flag-draped
funerals for troops killed on the homefront. A government contractor
went on a shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard in September,
leaving 12 people dead. In 2009, Army Maj. Nidal M. Hasan opened fire on
a group of soldiers at Fort Hood preparing to deploy to Iraq and
Afghanistan, killing 13 people and wounding more than 30.
Doctors
at the Scott & White hospital in Temple, Tex., said Wednesday that
they have treated eight of the wounded and that one more was on the way.
Three of the patients were in critical condition in the ICU, and five
were in serious condition. Seven of them were male, and one was female.
Their injuries ranged from mild to life-threatening, a majority of them
caused by single-gunshot wounds to the neck, chest and abdomen.
President
Obama said he was “heartbroken that something like this might have
happened again.” Speaking during a fundraising trip to Chicago, he
pledged “to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.”
A shooting at the Fort Hood military installation in Texas left at least four people dead, including the gunman, and more than a dozen were injured, according to authorities.
The gunman, identified by multiple government sources as Army Specialist Ivan Lopez, took his own life, officials said.
Lopez,
33, of Kileen, Tex., was wearing an Army uniform at the time of the
shooting, Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Homeland
Security Committee, told reporters.
Four
people were taken to Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Tex.,
and another two are being brought there, said Glen Couchman, the
facility’s chief medical officer. Their injuries that “range from stable
to quite critical,” he said.
The installation was locked down for
much of the afternoon and into the evening after the shooting before
being lifted shortly before 9 p.m. local time.
Speaking in Chicago, President Obama said his administration was following the shooting closely.
“I want to just assure all of us we are going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened,” he said. “We’re heartbroken something like this might have happened again.”
The base was the site of a shooting in 2009 that ultimately killed 13 people and wounded another 32, the worst mass murder at a military installation in U.S. history. Nidal Hasan was sentenced to death last year for the shooting after being found guilty of premeditated and attempted premeditated murder.
SHOOTING SITUATION STILL ACTIVE, Multiple Gunned Down
FORT
HOOD (April 2, 2014) At least one person is dead after a shooting late
Wednesday afternoon on Fort Hood, a post spokesman confirmed.
Others were injured in the shooting, but the spokesman didn't say how many.
The gunman is still at large and the spokesman said the incident is being treated as an active-shooter situation.
Warning sirens sounded late Wednesday afternoon at Fort Hood because of the incident.
A
man who said he was 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.
He said at least three people were hit.
He said the three victims were taken to a hospital.
The post was on lockdown as a result of the shooting, which occurred at around 4:25 p.m.
People on post were told to stay indoors.
A message that scrolled across the top of the post's website said, "Shelter in place immediately. This is not a test."
The
1st Calvary Division, which is based at Fort Hood, sent a Twitter alert
telling people on base to close doors and stay away from windows.
Texas
A&M Central Texas in Killeen canceled evening and night classes
Wednesday at Fort Hood and at its Fairway building because of the
situation on post.
First responders from surrounding communities were headed to the post.
Bell County sheriff's deputies and Department Public Safety troopers were also responding, sheriff's Lt. Donnie Adams said.
Media were being directed to the post's Visitor's Center.
On
Nov. 5, 2009, Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire at Fort
Hood's Soldier Readiness Center, killing 12 soldiers and one civilian
and wounding 29 others before two Fort Hood civilian police officers
shot him.
