Iraq War Veteran Kills Three, Wounds Sixteen at Fort Hood

Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the senior officer on base, speaks with the media outside of an entrance to the Fort Hood military base following a shooting that occurred inside, Wednesday, April 2, 2014, in Fort Hood, Texas. Four people were killed, including the gunman, and 16 were wounded in the attack, authorities said. (AP Photo/Tamir Kalifa)

Iraq War Veteran Kills Three, Wounds Sixteen at Fort Hood

Alleged shooter, who ultimately killed himself, is reportedly an Iraq War veteran who suffered from PTSD

Four people are dead and sixteen people were left wounded, some critically, after a lone gunman opened fire at Fort Hood in Texas late Wednesday afternoon. The alleged shooter is among the dead, according to officials.

Identified as Ivan Lopez, an Army veteran of the Iraq War and said to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the man killed three people and injured more than a dozen others with a semi-automatic handgun before turning the weapon on himself.

According to the Guardian, Lopez

apparently walked into a building on Wednesday and began firing a .45-calibre semi-automatic pistol that had been purchased recently. He then got into a vehicle and continued firing before entering another building and kept shooting.

He was eventually confronted by military police in a parking lot. As he came within 20ft (6 metres) of an officer, the gunman put his hands up but then reached under his jacket and pulled out his weapon. The officer drew her own gun, and the suspect put his pistol to his head and pulled the trigger.

The gunman, who was married and served in Iraq for four months in 2011, had sought help for depression, anxiety and other problems. Before the attack he had been undergoing an assessment to determine whether he had post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Lieutenant General Mark Milley, the senior officer on the base.

Milley said the incident began about 4pm local time (10pm BST) at an administration building for a medical brigade.

Back in 2009, Fort Hood was the scene of another mass shooting when Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan opened fire on his fellow soldiers, killing thirteen people and wounding 30. Hasan was injured in the attack and is now on death row at Leavenworth Prison.

__________________________________________

Join Us: News for people demanding a better world


Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place.

We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference.

Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today!

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.