Soldier Opens Fire At Fort Hood; 4 Dead, Several Injured

[beth]

FORT HOOD (CBSDFW.COM) - Four people are confirmed dead and at least 14 people are injured following a shooting at the Fort Hood army post Wednesday evening, according to the House Homeland Security Chair and U.S. Representative from Texas Michael McCaul. CBS News confirms the shooter is among the dead and was killed by a self-inflicted wound. The shooter has been identified as a soldier. He has been identified at 34-year-old Ivan Lopez. The shooting reportedly started as the result of a dispute between soldiers.

KWTX also reports approximately 20 rounds were fired. The FBI, Bell County Sheriff’s Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety all responded to the shooting.

Fort Hood has sent a tweet asking all personnel to take shelter in place. Sirens have been going off on post to alert people to about the situation:


1st Cavalry Division @1stcavalrydiv
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ALERT: All personnel on Fort Hood should shelter in place immediately, close doors and stay away from windows.


6:06 PM - 2 Apr 2014

Waco police have also tweeted out a warning regarding the situation:

Be AWARE!! If you are in the Ft. Hood Post area there is an on-going active shooter. Take shelter immediately and monitor media.

6:12 PM - 2 Apr 2014

Fort Hood confirms there are emergency crews are on the scene and injured personnel are being transported to Carl R. Darnall Medical Center. CBS Evening News reported people were being transported to the hospital in their own cars. A spokesperson for Scott & White Medical Hospital in Temple confirms patients are being brought there. Dr. Glen Couchman, Scott & White’s chief medical officer, said in a evening news conference that four patients had been admitted, another two patients were en route. Their conditions range from “stable to quite critical,” said Couchman, with gunshot wounds to the neck, chest and abdomen.


President Obama has issued the following statement about the tragedy:

“I just got off the phone with the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff to get the latest on the shooting at Fort Hood. Obviously, we’re all following it closely. The situation is fluid right now, but my national security team in close contact not just with Defense Department but with the FBI. They are working with folks on ground to determine exactly what happened and ensure that everyone is secure. Want to assure all of us we going to get to bottom of what happened. Any shooting is troubling. Obviously this reopened pain of what happened at Fort Hood 5 years ago. We know these familes, we know the service to their country and the sacrifices that they make. Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with the entire community and we are going to do everything we can to make the community of Fort Hood has what it needs to deal with a tough situation but also any potential aftermath. We’re heartbroken that something like this might have happened again. I don’t what on the comment on facts until we know exactly what happened. But just for now I would hope that everyone across the country keep the families of Fort Hood in our thoughts and our prayers. The folks there have sacrificed so much on behalf of our freedom. Many of the people there have been on multiple tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, they served with valor, they served with distinction. At their home base they need to feel safe. We don’t yet know what happened tonight but obviously that sense of safety has been broken once again. We need to find out exactly what happened.”

Video and extras, here:
dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/04/02/search-for-active-shooter-on-fort-hood-base/

[mouse]

soldiers see and do things that puts them under terrible strain....plus its a tough life so no wonder they play tough too
the police and fire services and the army over here are always being condemned for their lads culture and attitudes...hard drinking and not being PC ETC ETC and people going into that culture often cannot take it...
but the black humour and toughness is what makes them able to do jobs and do the things they have to do...hospitals too have a black humour which the average patient would find unacceptable....its a fine line the services walk
so the case should be measured and delt with by the army rather than civilians
my only question on this was why when in barracks and in a non combatant area were guns and ammunition available....is that normal??

[beth]

Fort Hood Shooter Angered When Told To Come Back Next Day

The soldier who opened fire at Fort Hood became enraged after an employee wouldn’t give him a leave of absence form, according to the father of one of the soldiers he shot.

Sgt. Jonathan Westbrook was struck four times in the spray of bullets, but was able to tell his father the shooter became agitated after an employee asked him to come back the next day.

The killer returned with a gun, said Theodis Westbrook, recounting his son’s story to ABC News.

The shooter, Spc. Ivan Lopez, killed three soldiers and wounded 16 before being confronted by a military police officer and killed himself.

Sgt. Westbrook was among the first shot, twice in the arm and twice in the chest.

The gunfire sent people in the room scurrying for cover.
"They dove for cover behind desks and tables only after he had shot and killed one person and injured my son," Theodis Westbrook said.

Theodis Westbrook didn’t speak to his son until seven hours later.

“I love you,” the relieved dad said he told his son.

Despite his wounds, Westbrook was released from the hospital today.

"My son is a blessed human being," Westbrook said. "He is blessed. He was shot pretty close up."

The wounded soldier's sister, Ameetra Westbrook-Otis, added details from her brother's story when she told ABC affiliate WAPT that her brother was working in the Human Resources Department when Lopez came in asking for leave of absence form. When the supervisor asked Lopez if he could come back the next day, Lopez looked exasperated and walked off, the sister said.

But he was back within minutes and started shooting. The first person shot was the supervisor, Westbrook-Otis said recounting her brother's story. He then shot several other people, including her brother.

Ten of the 16 wounded have been released from hospitals, Lt. Gen Mark Milley said at a press conference today.

Authorities said they don't believe Lopez's rampage was premeditated, but Milley did say it was likely the result of an "escalating argument."

Chris Grey, spokesman for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, said there is still "no concrete motive."

"We may never know why the alleged shooter did what he did," Grey said.

New details emerged about Lopez. He was a police officer in his native Puerto Rico for 10 years, and Grey said investigators have turned up "no history of criminal activity or convictions."

Among the dead is Sgt. Timothy Owens, 37. Mom Mary Muntean was still celebrating being reunited with the daughter she had given up for adoption when she heard the news.

Her euphoria at finding her daughter was cut short by losing her son.

“She finds one child and loses another,” her niece Betty Goodwin told the Associated Press.

Mary Muntean began to panic when her son didn’t answer her phone calls after she saw news of the shooting on TV.

“I thought, Oh God, please don’t let it be,” Muntean told ABC News affiliate WICS in Springfield, Ill.

“Very terrible ... that they had to shoot my son,” she said. “He was a good person.”

Owens’ wife Billie broke the news to his mother.

“She said, ‘Mom, I want to tell you how sorry I am. Tim’s gone,’” Muntean said. “I broke down. I’m 77 years old and I can hardly take this.”

Mary Muntean had been reunited with her daughter only the week before.

Sgt. First Class Danny Ferguson died a hero, his fiance told CBS affiliate WTSP in Tampa, Fla.

video and more:
abcnews.go.com/US/fort-hood-shooter-angered-told-back-day/story?id=23190670