Update: Shooter Still Alive, With 13 Confirmed Dead, 31 Wounded in Shooting at Ft. Hood
UPDATE: Reports are now saying the alleged gunman in the Fort Hood shootings, identified as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, is NOT dead, as was previously reported. CNN states Army Lt. General Robert Cone confirmed the shooter was wounded, but in stable condition and in custody.
That leaves the number confirmed dead at 13, including one civilian, and 28 wounded. We will update as additional details emerge.
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There are 13 confirmed dead, including the gunman, and another 31 wounded after a U.S. soldier opened fire at military base Fort Hood in Texas today.
Reports are starting to filter in with details about what happened at a military processing center on the base. The "soldier readiness center" was filled with soldiers filling out paperwork for their deployment to either Iraq or Afghanistan, when at approximately 1:30 p.m.(CT) a soldier, identified as Major Nidal Malik Hasan opened fired on the gathered crowd.
Hasan (pictured left), who was killed by emergency personnel on the scene, was a licensed psychiatrist in the state of Virginia and had worked at Walter Reed Medical Facility, but had been stationed at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood. Hasan was scheduled to be deployed to Iraq, and according to Texas Senator Kay Hutchinson, he "appeared to be upset about that."
According to CNN, of the eleven people killed, 10 were soldiers and the other a civilian police officer working as a contractor on the base.
Officials state there may have been more than one gunman involved, and two soldiers were detained and later released, but police do have someone considered "a person of interest" in custody as of this report.
This is a horrifying tragedy for an already overwhelmed military, stretched to their limits in two separate wars. Most soldiers have already completed several tours of duty, and they and their families are beyond stressed and worn out, with no relief in sight. One can only imagine how a psychiatrist, uniquely aware of the horrors of war, could commit such a craven act on his fellow soldiers.
Investigators will likely be seeking answers to that question for months as they attempt to sort out the devastation.
