4 dead in shooting at Fort Hood US base

Agence France-Presse

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4 dead in shooting at Fort Hood US base

ASHLEY LANDIS

(UPDATED) The gunman, who wasn't immediately identified, ending the shootings with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head

 

LOS ANGELES, USA (UPDATED) – A soldier killed 3 people and wounded 16 before turning the gun on himself Wednesday at Fort Hood, the US military base devastated by a deadly 2009 rampage, the commanding general said.

Lieutenant General Mark Milley said the gunman, who served in Iraq in 2011, was being treated for depression and anxiety, and being checked for possible Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

All of the dead and wounded were military personnel.

“At this time, there is no indication that this incident is related to terrorism, although we are not ruling anything out,” Milley told reporters at the sprawling US army installation in Texas.

“We do not know a motive. We do know that this soldier had… mental health issues, and was being treated for that.”

Confrontation

The gunman – who was not immediately identified pending notification of next of kin – used a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, which he bought recently and apparently smuggled onto the base.

He opened fire in a medical building, got into a vehicle while still shooting and then went to another building. (READ: One dead, 14 wounded in Fort Hood shooting)

The assailant killed himself when he was engaged in a parking lot by an armed female military policewoman, shooting himself in the head, said Milley.

“A military police officer responded and he was approaching her at about 20 feet,” he said.

At that point the gunman “put his hands up, then reached under his jacket, pulled out the (gun). She pulled out her weapon, she engaged, (then) he put the weapon to his head and died of a self-inflicted wound,” he added.

The general praised the servicewoman’s courage, saying it was “clearly heroic.”

Gunman had mental health issues

Milley said the Fort Hood gunman was “currently under diagnosis for PTSD but had not been diagnosed with PTSD.” The shooter, who was married, was on medication and had reportedly told officials that he had suffered a traumatic brain injury.

CBS News and other media, citing unnamed sources, identified the shooter as a 34-year-old Army specialist.

The US army base remained on lockdown for a couple of hours after staff were ordered to shelter in place, but personnel and family members were later given the all-clear.

A soldier told CNN he heard gunshots “and assumed they were blank rounds… We then heard a burst, another burst and it was clear they weren’t blank rounds. They were live rounds.”

The incident sparked memories of the November 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, when Major Nidal Hasan opened fire at the base, killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others.

Hasan, who was shot during the attack and is partially paralyzed, was sentenced last year to death. The US-born Muslim of Palestinian descent is awaiting execution.

President Barack Obama said he was “heartbroken something like this might have happened again,” and pledged that investigators would “get to the bottom of what happened.”

“Obviously, this reopened the pain of what happened at Fort Hood five years ago,” Obama said.

“Many of the people there have been on multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. They serve with valor, they serve with distinction. At when they’re at their home base, they need to feel safe.”

Massive US base

Fort Hood is spread out over almost 900 square kilometers, and is the largest US military base, with a population of 70,000 including 42,000 military personnel. The rest are family and civilian staff.

The biggest unit stationed there is the 1st Cavalry Division with a 17,000-strong roster.

One of its brigades is slated to be deployed in Europe this year on a rotating basis with European partner countries. – Rappler.com

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