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."
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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.
"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.
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.
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