Gunman Kills 3, Then Himself in Another Shooting at Fort Hood
An Iraq vet being treated for mental illness has killed three people and wounded 16 during an attack on US military base Fort Hood.
Fort Hood is known for a previous shooting rampage by another serviceman; "Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist, fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others" in 2009. While this was the worst shooting ever to take place on an American military base, it’s not been the only one in recent history. In 2013 a former Navy reservist, Aaron Alexis, opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard, killing at least 12 people before being shot by police.
Epoch Times reports: "In September, a former Navy man opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard, leaving 13 people dead, including the gunman. After that shooting, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the Pentagon to review security at all U.S. defense installations worldwide and examine the granting of security clearances that allow access to them.
Asked Wednesday about security improvements in the wake of the shootings, Hagel said: “Obviously when we have these kinds of tragedies on our bases, something’s not working.”"
Perhaps the pattern reveals the problem isn’t ’security’, but a much larger issue of constant wars, post traumatic stress disorder, mental illness and a system that continues to fail to address the underlying issues.
More on the most recent Fort Hood shooting ...
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Fort Hood Gunman Was Mental Health Patient
From: By Associated Press
[...]Within hours of the Wednesday attack, investigators started looking into whether the man’s combat experience had caused lingering psychological trauma. Fort Hood’s senior officer, Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, said the gunman had sought help for depression, anxiety and other problems.
Among the possibilities investigators planned to explore was whether a fight or argument on the base triggered the attack.
“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,” said a federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to discuss the case by name.
The official said authorities would begin by speaking with the man’s wife, and expected to search his home and any computers he owned.
The shooter was identified as Ivan Lopez by Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. But the congressman offered no other details, and the military declined to identify the gunman until his family members had been notified.
Lopez apparently walked into a building Wednesday afternoon and began firing a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. He then got into a vehicle and continued firing before entering another building, but he was eventually confronted by military police in a parking lot, according to Milley, senior officer on the base.
As he came within 20 feet of an officer, the gunman put his hands up but then reached under his jacket and pulled out his gun. The officer drew her own weapon, and the suspect put his gun to his head and pulled the trigger a final time, Milley said.
The gunman, who served in Iraq for four months in 2011, had been undergoing an assessment before the attack to determine if he had post-traumatic stress disorder, Milley said.
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Read the full article at: theepochtimes.com
