World News Korner

The Fort Hood shooting. A tragic deja vu.

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune:

Investigators delved into the background Thursday of a soldier who had been treated for mental illness before he killed three people and himself a day earlier at an Army base in Fort Hood, Texas, where another deadly rampage took place in 2009, military officials said.

The suspected shooter was being seen by a psychiatrist and showed no signs of violence or suicidal tendencies, U.S. Army Secretary John McHugh said on Thursday.

McHugh also told a U.S. Senate committee there was no indication that the soldier was involved with any extremist organizations.

There was no motive given for the incident, although officials ruled out terrorism. The shooting also wounded 16 others, and the gunman, who had been treated for depression and anxiety, was yet to be officially identified.

The victims were all military personnel at the massive Army base, which houses many soldiers who have seen combat abroad.

The soldier had served four months in Iraq in 2011 and was undergoing evaluation for post-traumatic stress disorder, said Fort Hood commanding officer Lieutenant General Mark Milley.

Security officials said preliminary information identified the gunman as Ivan Lopez, but Milley declined to name the shooter, who is married, until his family was notified. (This has been confirmed just now on MSNBC.)

The suspect's wife was cooperating with law enforcement officers, a Federal Bureau of Investigation official said, according to CNN.

The shooter had "self-reported" a traumatic brain injury after returning from Iraq but was never wounded in action, Milley said. He arrived in Fort Hood in February from another military installation.

At about 4:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, the soldier went to two buildings on the base and opened fire before he was confronted by military police, Milley said.

The gunman then shot himself in the head with a .45-caliber pistol, he said. U.S. Representative Michael McCaul of Texas told reporters the man was wearing an Army uniform.

Milley said law enforcement was looking into reports of an argument at the base ahead of the shooting.

"At this time there is no indication that this incident is related to terrorism," Milley told a news conference.

I decided to wait to post about this tragedy, because I have learned from experience that the initial information is always incorrect in its details.

The original reports were of about six injured and the one death, and that tentatively identified as the gunman. Sadly later we learned that there were many more victims.

Of course as most of us remember this is not the first mass shooting at Fort Hood, there was one in 2009 which many have linked to a terrorism, because the individual was Muslim.

In that shooting there thirteen causalities and over thirty wounded.

That time, and I am sure it will happen again this time, there were calls from gun control advocates for stricter gun laws and calls from the other side for arming everybody on the base. You know, cause THAT will help.

I heard this morning that the precautions that were adopted probably helped to save lives in this incident. We will have to learn more to determine if that is true.

I actually don't think this will have much of an impact on gun laws, nor am I sure that it should.

Even though the guy was seeing a psychiatrist he did not show any serious signs of mental illness, and he did not demonstrate any indications of suicidal ideation or homicidal fantasies.

As much as we would like to think that stricter gun control laws can prevent any such tragedy, and certainly they could prevent many, in this case I don't think it would have made much difference.

The man was a soldier, so he had adequate training with firearms. He had the right under the law to own a gun (Though the gun was not registered, not that that makes any difference.), and he did not demonstrate a reason to restrict his access to firearms. Even with stricter laws, it is does not appear he would have been impacted.

I would still like to see stricter laws, including registering all serial numbers with the government and background checks at gun shows and for purchases online, but I am not sure any of that would have saved lives this time around.

Just a sad, and tragic story of somebody in great pain who nobody seemed to hear until it was too late.

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