Post by Queen of the Damned on Nov 5, 2009 19:12:40 GMT -5
Army: 12 dead, 31 wounded at Fort Hood
Army psychiatrist was gunman in Texas incident, military officals tell NBC
BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and msnbc.com
updated 7:04 p.m. ET, Thurs., Nov . 5, 2009
An Army psychiatrist opened fire Thursday at Fort Hood, Texas, killing at least 11 people and wounding 31 others before being shot to death, officials told NBC News.
NBC News’ Pete Williams reported that U.S. officials identified the gunman as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who had been promoted to major in May. A defense official told NBC News that Hasan arrived at Fort Hood in July for his first assignment after completing his psychiatry residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, followed by a fellowship in disaster and preventive psychiatry.
Hasan, who was 39 or 40, was scheduled to be deployed to Iraq on Nov. 28, officials said. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said military officials had told her that Hasan was “pretty upset” about his deployment orders.
Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, commanding general of the Army’s III Corps, who briefed President Barack Obama on the shootings, said the gunman used two handguns.
Two other soldiers were taken into custody after the shooting, but Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, said they later were released.
A senior administration official told NBC News that the shootings could have been a criminal matter rather than a terrorism-related attack and that there was no intelligence to suggest a plot against Fort Hood.
Military and local hospital officials said the victims were a mixture of men and women, military and civilian. At least one of those killed was a civilian police officer, Cone said. At least four local SWAT officers were among those wounded, NBC affiliate KCEN-TV of Waco reported.
Two of the victims remained in surgery late Thursday afternoon at Metroplex Hospital in Killeen. One of them, a woman, is an emergency medical worker the base, the hospital said.
Reminders of 1991 massacre
Fort Hood, one of the largest military complexes in the world, was on lockdown, as were schools in the area. Dozens of agents of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the post, federal officials said.
The base is surrounded by the town of Killeen, where a man shot and killed 23 people in a Luby’s restaurant in October 1991.
“Unfortunately, this is a day we had dreaded,” said Hilary Shine, a spokeswoman for the city of Killeen. “Every time you hear of a mass casualty situation in Killeen, you think of Luby’s. ...
“Here in City Hall, it’s panic,” Shine said. “We all have friends and family members who work or have business on Fort Hood.”
Muslim group condemns shootings
Noting the Arabic nature of the gunman’s name, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington interest group, condemned “this cowardly attack in the strongest terms possible and ask that the perpetrators be punished to the full extent of the law.”
”No political or religious ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence,” the council said in a statement. “The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all-volunteer army that protects our nation. American Muslims stand with our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims and sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured.”
Speaking in Washington, Obama called the shootings a “horrific incident.”
“It’s difficult enough when we lose these great Americans in battles overseas,” Obama said at the Interior Department. “It’s horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.”
Shootings in deployment processing center
Emergency Services officials at Fort Hood said the incident began about 1:30 p.m. CT (2:30 p.m. ET) when the gunman opened fire in the Soldiers Readiness Processing Center on the west side of the base. A spokesman for the base, Sgt. Major Jamie Posten, said the processing center was where soldiers “cycle through as they prepare to deploy.”
Retired Army Col. Greg Schannep, an aide to Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, who was on the post to attend a graduation service, told the Fort Hood Sentinel that he heard “three or four volleys of shots, with eight to 12 shots in each volley.”
“Initially, I thought it was a training exercise,” he said. But then, “a soldier came running past me and said, ‘Sir, there is someone shooting.’
“As he ran past me, I saw blood on his back,” Schannep told the base paper. “I don’t think he even knew he had been shot.”
Fort Hood is adjacent to Killeen, about 60 miles northeast of Austin. The sprawling complex is home to at least 4,929 active-duty officers and 45,414 enlisted. Civilian employees total nearly 9,000.
A spokesman for the Army, Lt. Col. Lee M. Packnett, said he was unaware whether security measures were put in place at other military bases. Other U.S. military bases told local NBC stations that said the shootings were being treated as an isolated incident and that no special security measures were being implemented in response.
‘Shocked and saddened’
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, said in a statement: “I am shocked and saddened by today’s outburst of violence at Fort Hood that has cost seven of our brave service members their lives and has gravely injured others. My heart goes out to their loved ones.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign spokesperson said the governor was in Denton, scheduled to attend a campaign event, when word of the shooting occurred. There was no word on whether he had left Denton or whether he was headed to Fort Hood.
Fort Hood has seen other violence in recent years. In September 2008, a 21-year-old 1st Cavalry Division soldier shot his lieutenant to death and then killed himself. Spc. Jody Michael Wirawan of Eagle River, Alaska, shot himself to death after shooting 1st Lt. Robert Bartlett Fletcher, 24, of Jensen Beach, Fla. to death.
This breaking news story will be updated with more details. You can also follow @msnbc_breaking on Twitter.
Pete Williams, Savannah Guthrie, Scott Foster, Kameko Jones and Joel Seidman of NBC News; Bill Dedman and Alex Johnson of msnbc.com; and NBC stations KCEN of Waco, Texas, and KXAS of Dallas contributed to this report.
© 2009 msnbc.com Reprints
URL: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33678801/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
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© 2009 MSNBC.com
is anyone else scared that a mental health professional did this??
Army psychiatrist was gunman in Texas incident, military officals tell NBC
BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and msnbc.com
updated 7:04 p.m. ET, Thurs., Nov . 5, 2009
An Army psychiatrist opened fire Thursday at Fort Hood, Texas, killing at least 11 people and wounding 31 others before being shot to death, officials told NBC News.
NBC News’ Pete Williams reported that U.S. officials identified the gunman as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who had been promoted to major in May. A defense official told NBC News that Hasan arrived at Fort Hood in July for his first assignment after completing his psychiatry residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, followed by a fellowship in disaster and preventive psychiatry.
Hasan, who was 39 or 40, was scheduled to be deployed to Iraq on Nov. 28, officials said. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said military officials had told her that Hasan was “pretty upset” about his deployment orders.
Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, commanding general of the Army’s III Corps, who briefed President Barack Obama on the shootings, said the gunman used two handguns.
Two other soldiers were taken into custody after the shooting, but Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, said they later were released.
A senior administration official told NBC News that the shootings could have been a criminal matter rather than a terrorism-related attack and that there was no intelligence to suggest a plot against Fort Hood.
Military and local hospital officials said the victims were a mixture of men and women, military and civilian. At least one of those killed was a civilian police officer, Cone said. At least four local SWAT officers were among those wounded, NBC affiliate KCEN-TV of Waco reported.
Two of the victims remained in surgery late Thursday afternoon at Metroplex Hospital in Killeen. One of them, a woman, is an emergency medical worker the base, the hospital said.
Reminders of 1991 massacre
Fort Hood, one of the largest military complexes in the world, was on lockdown, as were schools in the area. Dozens of agents of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the post, federal officials said.
The base is surrounded by the town of Killeen, where a man shot and killed 23 people in a Luby’s restaurant in October 1991.
“Unfortunately, this is a day we had dreaded,” said Hilary Shine, a spokeswoman for the city of Killeen. “Every time you hear of a mass casualty situation in Killeen, you think of Luby’s. ...
“Here in City Hall, it’s panic,” Shine said. “We all have friends and family members who work or have business on Fort Hood.”
Muslim group condemns shootings
Noting the Arabic nature of the gunman’s name, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington interest group, condemned “this cowardly attack in the strongest terms possible and ask that the perpetrators be punished to the full extent of the law.”
”No political or religious ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence,” the council said in a statement. “The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all-volunteer army that protects our nation. American Muslims stand with our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims and sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured.”
Speaking in Washington, Obama called the shootings a “horrific incident.”
“It’s difficult enough when we lose these great Americans in battles overseas,” Obama said at the Interior Department. “It’s horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.”
Shootings in deployment processing center
Emergency Services officials at Fort Hood said the incident began about 1:30 p.m. CT (2:30 p.m. ET) when the gunman opened fire in the Soldiers Readiness Processing Center on the west side of the base. A spokesman for the base, Sgt. Major Jamie Posten, said the processing center was where soldiers “cycle through as they prepare to deploy.”
Retired Army Col. Greg Schannep, an aide to Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, who was on the post to attend a graduation service, told the Fort Hood Sentinel that he heard “three or four volleys of shots, with eight to 12 shots in each volley.”
“Initially, I thought it was a training exercise,” he said. But then, “a soldier came running past me and said, ‘Sir, there is someone shooting.’
“As he ran past me, I saw blood on his back,” Schannep told the base paper. “I don’t think he even knew he had been shot.”
Fort Hood is adjacent to Killeen, about 60 miles northeast of Austin. The sprawling complex is home to at least 4,929 active-duty officers and 45,414 enlisted. Civilian employees total nearly 9,000.
A spokesman for the Army, Lt. Col. Lee M. Packnett, said he was unaware whether security measures were put in place at other military bases. Other U.S. military bases told local NBC stations that said the shootings were being treated as an isolated incident and that no special security measures were being implemented in response.
‘Shocked and saddened’
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, said in a statement: “I am shocked and saddened by today’s outburst of violence at Fort Hood that has cost seven of our brave service members their lives and has gravely injured others. My heart goes out to their loved ones.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign spokesperson said the governor was in Denton, scheduled to attend a campaign event, when word of the shooting occurred. There was no word on whether he had left Denton or whether he was headed to Fort Hood.
Fort Hood has seen other violence in recent years. In September 2008, a 21-year-old 1st Cavalry Division soldier shot his lieutenant to death and then killed himself. Spc. Jody Michael Wirawan of Eagle River, Alaska, shot himself to death after shooting 1st Lt. Robert Bartlett Fletcher, 24, of Jensen Beach, Fla. to death.
This breaking news story will be updated with more details. You can also follow @msnbc_breaking on Twitter.
Pete Williams, Savannah Guthrie, Scott Foster, Kameko Jones and Joel Seidman of NBC News; Bill Dedman and Alex Johnson of msnbc.com; and NBC stations KCEN of Waco, Texas, and KXAS of Dallas contributed to this report.
© 2009 msnbc.com Reprints
URL: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33678801/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2009 MSNBC.com
is anyone else scared that a mental health professional did this??