Drew Anthony Smith, Getty Images
Four people, including the gunman, were killed and 16 others injured in a shooting at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas Wednesday evening. Fort Hood officials said the gunman was a soldier who had been receiving mental health treatment and that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
9:40 p.m.: Lt. Gen. Mark Milley confirms that four are dead and 16 injured in the shooting at the base. Milley said all of the wounded and killed were members of the military.
Milley said the gunman, a soldier who was transferred to the base in February, was among the dead and had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The soldier’s name was being withheld pending notification of his family. The general said the soldier is married and has a family.
The shooter spent four months in Iraq in 2011 and had been seeking diagnosis for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Milley said. He said the soldier had been receiving treatment for depression and other mental health issues.
Milley said the shooting began around 4 p.m. and that the gunman walked into a building in the medical area on the base, opened fire with a semi-automatic .45 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun, then traveled to another building where he also opened fire. Milley said the gunman was engaged by a female military officer, at which point he turned his weapon on himself.
Milley said the handgun used in the tragedy was not registered on Fort Hood as base rules require. He said the soldier had purchased the gun recently in the area. Milley said officials are examining the soldier’s history as their investigation continues.
“There is no indication that it is related to terrorism, although we are not ruling anything out and the investigation continues,” Milley said.
Daily press conferences are scheduled to be held, beginning on Thursday, as more information develops and can be released.
KTEM
The lockdown on the base has been lifted, according to Fort Hood officials. A press conference is expected to begin shortly.
8:40 p.m.: According to
CNN, a semi-automatic handgun was used in the shooting and the gunman was wearing a military uniform.
7:20 p.m.: CBS identified the gunman as 34-year-old Ivan Lopez, although the gunman’s identity has not been confirmed by Fort Hood officials or the Pentagon. Reports suggest that the gunman was in uniform at the time of the shooting.
According to officials at the base, the injured were being taken to Car. R. Darnall Medical Center and other local hospitals and numerous law enforcement agencies were called to the scene.
In a
written statement released at 6:29 p.m. local time, officials at the base said “Fort Hood’s Directorate of Emergency Services has an initial report that a shooter is dead but this is unconfirmed” and that the base remained on lockdown.
President Barack Obama spoke after being briefed on the shooting. [
FULL STATEMENT]
“Any shooting is troubling. Obviously this reopens the pain of what happened at Fort Hood five years ago,” Obama said in his statement. “And when they’re at their home base they need to feel safe. We don’t yet know what happened tonight but obviously that sense of safety has been broken once again. And we’re going to have to find out exactly what happened.”
6:09 p.m.: KCEN-TV in Waco, Killeen and Temple is reporting a shooting with multiple injuries at Fort Hood.
The station reported at least one patient is being transported to the hospital, and at least three injuries to soldiers. The suspect is reportedly still at large and was believed to be in the Medical Brigade Building. Fort Hood is on lockdown.
About Fort Hood:
Fort Hood is the largest active duty armored post in the country and is located in Killeen, about halfway between Austin and Waco, Texas.
The base was the site of a
2009 mass murder by Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13. Hasan was convicted last August and sentenced to death for his crimes. He remains in military custody pending execution.
[button href=”http://ktemnews.com/unconfirmed-reports-of-active-shooter-on-fort-hood/” title=”CONTINUED COVERAGE FROM KILLEEN” align=”center”]
