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Army: 12 dead, 31 hurt in attacks at Texas base
Published Thursday, November 5, 2009
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — A military mental health doctor facing deployment overseas opened fire at the Fort Hood Army base on Thursday, setting off on a rampage that killed 11 other people and left 31 wounded. Authorities killed the gunman, and the violence was believed to be the worst mass shooting in history at a U.S. military base.
The shooting began around 1:30 p.m. EDT (1530 GMT), when shots were fired at the base's Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening, said Lt. Gen. Bob Cone at Fort Hood.
"It's a terrible tragedy. It's stunning," Cone said.
A law enforcement official identified the shooting suspect as Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
Two other soldiers taken into custody following the deadly rampage have been released, Fort Hood spokesman Christopher Haug told The Associated Press. "They're not believed to be involved in the incident," Haug said. He said a third person was in custody, however.
It was unclear what the motive was. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said the Army major was about to deploy overseas, though it was unclear if he was headed to Iraq or Afghanistan and when he was scheduled to leave. Hutchison said she was told about the upcoming deployment by generals based at Fort Hood.
Military officials say Hasan, 39, was a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for six years before being transferred to the Texas base in July. The officials, who had access to Hasan's military record, said he received a poor performance evaluation while at Walter Reed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because military records are confidential.
The Virginia-born soldier was single with no children. He graduated from Virginia Tech University, where he was a member of the ROTC and earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 1997. He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2001. At Walter Reed, he did his internship, residency and a fellowship.
Officials were investigating whether Hasan was his birth name or if he may have changed his name, possibly as part of a conversion to Islam. However, they were not certain of his religion.
The Soldier Readiness Center holds hundreds of people and is one of the most populated parts of the base, said Steve Moore, a spokesman for III Corps at Fort Hood. Nearby there are barracks and a food center where there are fast food chains.
A graduation ceremony for soldiers who finished college courses while deployed was going on nearby at the time of the shooting, said Sgt. Rebekah Lampman, a Fort Hood spokeswoman.
Greg Schanepp, Carter's regional director in Texas, was at Fort Hood, said John Stone, a spokesman for Carter. Schanepp was at a graduation ceremony when a soldier who had been shot in the back came running toward him and alerted him of the shooting, Stone said. The soldier told Schanepp not to go in the direction of the shooter, he said.
The wounded were dispersed among hospitals in central Texas, Cone said.
Lisa Pfund of Wisconsin says her daughter, 19-year-old Amber Bahr, was shot in the stomach but was in stable condition. "We know nothing, just that she was shot in the belly," Pfund told The Associated Press. She couldn't provide more details and only spoke with emergency personnel.
Pfund said Bahr joined the reserves when she was 17 to earn money for school and loved being in the military even though none of her friends were interested in joining the Army.
A Fort Hood spokesman said he could not immediately confirm any identities of the injured.
"I ask that all of you keep these families and these individuals in your prayers today," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said.
The shootings on the Texas military base stirred memories of other recent mass shootings in the United States, including 13 dead at a New York immigrant center in April, 10 killed during a gunman's rampage across Alabama in March and 32 killed in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history at Virginia Tech in 2007.
Around the country, some bases stepped up security precautions, but no others were locked down.
In Washington, President Barack Obama called the shooting "a horrific outburst of violence." He said it's a tragedy to lose a soldier overseas and even more horrifying when they come under fire at an Army base on American soil.
"We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident," the commander in chief said. "We are going to stay on this."
Covering 339 square miles (878 sq. kilometers), Fort Hood is the largest active duty armored post in the United States. Home to about 52,000 troops as of earlier this year, the sprawling base is located halfway between Austin and Waco.
Fort Hood officially opened on Sept. 18, 1942, and was named in honor of Gen. John Bell Hood.
Comments
Posted by jrn59 (anonymous) on November 5, 2009 at 7:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Can you even believe what has happened on our largest military post today? And by a Psychiatrist, who examined the returning solders of Iraq and Afghanistan. My sister lives in Copperas Cove, Tx. and every one was under lockdown for most of the day. I thought after the killings at Lubys restaurant years back, this would surely not occur again, but here we go. Our prayers are with the families and every one struggling with this tragedy in Central Texas. May God watch over them and all of us..
Posted by freedom42 (anonymous) on November 5, 2009 at 9:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
News now reports the gunman, who is a Muslim, was NOT killed, but has been wounded and captured. The other 2 suspects have been released. May God watch over all our military families.
Posted by justthefacts (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 1:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Chickens coming home to roost...
Posted by OldGrandDad (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 5:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
From here on out, no matter how bad it gets, let's all remember to remain politically correct.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker...
Posted by GodsChild (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 7:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My prayers and thoughts goes out to the families and friends in this terrible situation....
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 10:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well excuse me if I am not being politically correct but if it's "us against them", then Muslims have a lot more to fear from us than we do from them.
We kill more of their innocents and tamper with their governments as a matter of policy; they kill us back when individuals snap or want to send a message for us to stop.
Of course we cannot tolerate lawlessness or nuts who cross the line. But let's be honest about who is the biggest provocateur.
Saying this is in no way supports the pain this man perpetrated or lessens the appreciation for individuals who will serve their country. The rest of us should not be so eager to use violence in foreign lands if we don't like reprisal against our people.
Posted by m40marine (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 10:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This sounds like you (Yeahuhuh) are making some of the same statements the suspect made while working at Walter Reed. I dont't care how much pain this man felt. He was a leader in the U.S. Army and he took the lives of his own fellow soldiers.
Posted by freedom42 (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 12:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Not all Muslims are terrorists, but 99% of all terrorists are Muslims. Think about that one yhh.
Posted by southernwoman (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 12:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Even though I have access to the same websites, I can't muster the audacity to state statistics with the confidence and authority of some, but I would suppose that about 99.5 percent of the Iraqi citizens killed by US forces were Muslim.
As far as I know, the US has been 100 percent free of attacks by Iraqis.
Posted by southernwoman (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 12:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Probably at one time, 99 percent of the terrorists in Mississippi were KKKrs. Must have been really frightening to have the terrorists so close by.
Posted by Username (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 2:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
In almost every major mass shooting over the past two decades, since anti-depressant drugs became popular, the killer has been on SSRI’s – selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Immediately after we learned of the Virginia Tech massacre, the largest mass shooting in U.S. history by a single gunman, we predicted that the assassin would be on psychotropic drugs, which is exactly what turned out to be the case.
Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, as well as 15-year-old Kip Kinkel, the Oregon killer who gunned down his parents and classmates, were all on psychotropic drugs.
Robert Hawkins, the 19 year old who killed himself and eight other people with an assault rifle in Omaha, Nebraska in December 2007 had a history of treatment with psychiatric drugs for depression and ADHD and was on prozac.
Jeff Weise, the Red Lake High School killer was on prozac, “Unabomber” Ted Kaczinski, Michael McDermott, John Hinckley, Jr., Byran Uyesugi, Mark David Chapman and Charles Carl Roberts IV, the Amish school killer, were all on SSRI psychotropic drugs.
Northern Illinois University killer Steven Kazmierczak had taken Prozac.
In 2005, it was revealed that Eli Lilly had full knowledge of a 1200% increase in suicide risk for takers of their Prozac.
Posted by OldGrandDad (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 5:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I recall a conversation that I had with a Hindu about 4 years ago. He asked me, "Have you ever noticed that most of the world's problems are caused by Muslims?" Since we were both in a "Muslim Country" it really didn't seem politically correct to reply, but I didn't have any argument against what he said. The fact is, it is true that a greatly disproportionate number of terrorist acts are commited by Muslims. And I appreciate the news outlets that tell us the whole truth.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 5:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
m40marine I accept your ire at this man. I did not defend him, rather, I countered the anti-religious bigotry of some of the other posters.
The fact that he stated the obvious about our policies is not his crime. His crime was killing people he had sworn to protect.
Posted by southernwoman (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 6:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What were the religious affiliations of Timothy McVeigh and the man who shot several people in Orlando today?
Were the Muslims a threat to the US in any way before we coveted their oil and began to manipulate the power structures in their countries?
Posted by southernwoman (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 6:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The American Indians here when this country was settled probably considered the Europeans to be causing most of the world's problems.
Posted by Kaintuck (anonymous) on November 6, 2009 at 11:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Run the numbers on violent, criminal or terroristic acts performed by adherents to all the religions of the world: Islam is BY FAR the most violent... It encourages believers to subjugate women, kill them if they insult their husband's honor, and spurs believers to kill infidels (everyone else) if they do not convert to Islam. Ignorant pedants who equate Islam with Christianity, Judaism, or even Hinduism or Buddhism, should seek true enlightenment, and spend a few months living in Saudi Arabia - Islam's holy land and the actual Mecca of Muslims. Those who cry the loudest about ALL religions being equal, will come whimpering back to the United States of America with a completely different opinion.
In Saudi Arabia - the fount for most of the 9/11 hijackers - described as "our eternal friend" by President Bush, they completely stripped and burned all food and articles associated with Americans following banquets, as they consider us filthy dogs - despite us having provided military and police muscle for the Saudi Royals. Osama bin Laden mandated that American Armed Forces leave Saudi Arabia following 9/11. Well guess what? We did! Most American civilians (voters) are unaware of this, but it is true. The United States, following 9/11 under President Bush, did everything the Saudis told us to do. That really stuck in the craw of many of us, but it was the truth... Fact is frequently stranger than fiction. So despite being the actual home base of the 9/11 hijackers, that is one Middle Eastern country, ironically, that cannot say we overstayed our welcome. Nuts...
Posted by frogprincenessntz (anonymous) on November 7, 2009 at 2:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We have more to worry about from the same sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddQvhdCyh...
Posted by frogprincenessntz (anonymous) on November 7, 2009 at 2:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sorry that page was too broad. Try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BBJLZVZu...
and if this one does not work, it is getting blocked.
Posted by OldGrandDad (anonymous) on November 7, 2009 at 7:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
southernwoman, Concerning --> "What were the religious affiliations of Timothy McVeigh and the man who shot several people in Orlando today"
Sorry, but I don't have a clue. Anytime I hear of horrible acts/crimes I assume the guilty person has no religion unless the media informs me otherwise.
Personally, I do not consider every Muslim a potential terrorist. But most terrorists are potential Muslims until confirmed otherwise.
Concerning --> "before we coveted their oil"
Business is business. They wanted to sell oil and we wanted to buy. Do you think they wanted to keep the oil for themselves? Besides, if our corrupt politicians (in both parties) would allow drilling our own waters then our demand for middle east oil, which is about 20% of our need, would be non-existant.
Concerning our meddling with other countries, show me an administration that has not. The guys who run for president and say that we should not meddle are labled extremists and never win.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on November 7, 2009 at 9:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Some of you folks need a World History 101 lesson.
I don't know how it is accepted by some that "not all Muslims are terrorists but most terrorists are Muslims". That depends on what you call terrorism. Actually as a statement it is simply wrong.
A lot of Americans justify flying a bomber over a country like Vietnam or Iraq or Afghansitan -- destabilizing entire countries killing innocent people by the thousands and the bad guys, too -- just because that is the convenient style of warfare we picked. That is a lot more terrifying to some than the nut with the plastique strapped to his belly. And anyone that pretends we do not back our actions with our religion is in denial.
Muslims just happen to contain a small rogue movement that justifies violence against all citizens of the enemy. It is a religion that happens to be strong in parts of the world that the colonial West really screwed over for the last 200 years and that are settling their own governance issues now that the colonial powers have mostly left their countries. With any luck they will be less messy than we were with WWI and WWII.
Seeing that we kill and denigrate droves of innocents in their lands they include that tactic for themselves -- they are simply more honest about using the tactic. They have always been a group founded by nomadic people a little less staid and British than us urbanites of the West. Most Americans could not even survive in their lands -- these people have to wash their clothes by hand and don't have the FDA or the Walmart!
Sure I would not want to have anything to do with their religious indignation and intolerance, but we have Christians with the same attitude. And look who has the longest history of going to the other group's country and trying to change their governments. Duh!
It's like OGD said. We expressly reserve the right to go and mess with other people's governments for oil or whatever we want. And that does not bother a great many Americans -- in fact, a certain amount of it is necessary to get elected.
We should not act surprised if some people want to hunt us down and hurt us any way they can. We have to stop them when they try but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that either they strike back or they belly up and they are not yet ready to belly up.
But Obama is a relative breath of fresh air even though he cannot lay down the stick. He has toned down the conflict and may yet start acting like a Christian in international affairs. If he lays down the stick the real people responsible for terror against us will cry foul and talk bad about him -- for being too weak.
IMHO...of course.
Posted by belle_south (anonymous) on November 7, 2009 at 9:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I totally disagree..... the oldest, notorious and most violent terrorists in the world are not from the middle east nor are they muslim (islam)..... They were members of this group called the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and they all were born and raised in America. They all claimed to be Christians and 100% of their members are white (i.e. Caucasion). Their main motive for violence was race. These cowards maliciously and unprovokingly killed and tortured countless number of African Americans strictly because of race (sounds like genocide to me) in the name of God and racial superiority.
My point is even though 100% of the KKK are white, not all white people are racist; therefore, not all muslims are terrorists.
Posted by OldGrandDad (anonymous) on November 7, 2009 at 10:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeahuhuh, you and belle_south are mentioning historical wrongs in contrast to what I said about current terrorism. Since I ain't looking for an argument on a beautiful Saturday, I'll just say that I was speaking in generalities and I really don't believe there is anything wrong with doing so. If I read in the paper that a person on the north side of town, named Laqueesha, was arrested for writing a bad check, I may or may not form some opinions in my mind about what this person is like. The same if I read that a guy named Billy Bob was arrested in Kingston for beating his wife. At least some partial form of a mental image is going to come to mind. For those that are immune to this mental imagery, my congratulations. Further, if I come home and find a $20 bill stolen, I wouldn't even consider thinking a Muslim did it. What's more, if i was staying at a hotel in Riyadh and had the $20 stolen, I still would not think it was stolen by a Muslim since I don't, from my experience, have any reason to equate them with crimes of that sort. We form generalizations in our minds due to education or experience. And obviously, our generalizations can be wrong sometimes. But for myself, when I read about a guy with a middle eastern name killing a lot of folks my first reaction is to think that he most likely is a Muslim.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on November 7, 2009 at 2:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well OK OGD I wasn't actually talking to you on that rant despite the similarity in one line you wrote to what some have said.
But it is true that the terrorists you read about most in this country are Muslims. It is the epitomy of political correctness in this country to see terrorism as something Muslims do and we do not do.
My point is that people ought to reflect on that position. If you measure by sheer numbers of innocent dead at our hands we do not have a very good record over the last decades. Some folks are so busy praising the Lord, hating Muslims and God Blessing America they forget to notice that we have institutionalized our violence and pay for it with taxes.
I think anybody that reads your writing knows you are not hateful. Sorry if I wasn't plain enough.
Posted by OldGrandDad (anonymous) on November 7, 2009 at 8:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeahuhuh, no I don't think that I took it that way. I just wanted to make sure I had explained myself.
Concerning --> "Some folks are so busy praising the Lord, hating Muslims and God Blessing America they forget to notice that we have institutionalized our violence and pay for it with taxes"
Any Christian that spends time hating really needs to rethink what they believe in. But about the violence institutionalized, I remember complaining to an army recruiter about the first Pres. Bush not finishing the job with Iraq. Their reply was that the US could not because "we need bad guys in the world". That seems to be modern military thinking. Perhaps its good for business? And that was during the Clinton presidency. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Vietstan.
Posted by Crakalakin (anonymous) on November 8, 2009 at 6:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Posted by belle_south-
"I totally disagree..... the oldest, notorious and most violent terrorists in the world are not from the middle east nor are they muslim (islam)..... They were members of this group called the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and they all were born and raised in America."
So much about that is just historically false, it doesn't matter what you opinion is.
We were fighting Muslim jihadists in the Barbary Wars shortly after our country was founded, over a hundred years before the birth of the KKK.
And speaking of the KKK, you are right that they were terrorists. They were the terrorist arm of the Democratic Party. Before the turn of the century, they had killed almost 2000 Republicans. Yes, the Democratic Party is steeped in racial and political terrorism.
That said, blacks kill more whites over the course of a couple of years now than the KKK killed blacks in their entire existence.
Posted by Crakalakin (anonymous) on November 8, 2009 at 6:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeahuhuh - "Some folks are so busy praising the Lord, hating Muslims and God Blessing America they forget to notice that we have institutionalized our violence and pay for it with taxes."
And some folks are so busy being completely ignorant of world and American affairs they can make completely preposterous assertions because our "institutionalized violence" keeps them free to do so.
The moral relativists on here are a pretty dense bunch. Then again, most moral relativists are. They like to talk about the action that people like me actually take part in. Big-mouthed cowards protected by the brave people they can't seem to stand or otherwise equate to terrorists.
One day someone is going to decide your butts aren't worth protecting. Good luck to you then.
Posted by southernwoman (anonymous) on November 8, 2009 at 10:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Crakalakin, are you saying black on black violence negates the atrocities committed by the KKK?
Posted by belle_south (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 12:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Crakalakin: For the record, the number one killer of white males is SUICIDE, not African-Americans. Also, you may have stats for Black on white crimes. There are no stats for KKK on other races, no one was counting and just about everyone was a part of it. My point was not that they were democrats or republican. My point is that they were WHITE and considered themselves CHRISTIANS, which was a requirement to become a member. The KKK targeted other races, sexes, religions....anyone who wasnt JUST like them. So you figure it out...Or have you. Crack I think that you a one of them. In 2010, who except a member defends that despicable organization??? You have been exposed.
Oledad... Generalizations are not made on education and experience... Generalizations are based on stupidity and ignorance... It is life experiences and education that deliver you from the vortex of ineptiude called generalizations or bigotry. So please spare me with that B.S. I was in a muslim country and had $3000 worth of jewelry stolen from my hotel room, sorry to disappoint you, no Black people worked there......
Posted by belle_south (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 1:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Also, In the words of MR BOBO can someone tell me the race of the people who were busted for stealing $53 Million from private citizens..... How much did Martha Stewart steal??? ENRON????
As far as Killing what race is The Manson Family??Timothy McVeigh?? The Green River Killer?? Columbine shooters??15-year-old Kip Kinkel, the Oregon killer who gunned down his parents and classmates??? Robert Hawkins, the 19 year old who killed himself and eight other people with an assault rifle in Omaha, Nebraska ??? Jeff Weise, the Red Lake High School killer ?? “Unabomber” Ted Kaczinski??? Michael McDermott, John Hinckley, Jr., Byran Uyesugi, Mark David Chapman and Charles Carl Roberts IV, the Amish school killer??? Northern Illinois University killer Steven Kazmierczak ??? All this doesnt mean that all white people are serial Killers, no more than it means that all black people steal.'
The only difference between white and black crime is semantics. A Black person can go into Seven Eleven and steal an icecream sandwich, the headlines will read STRONG ARMED ROBBERY. A white person can steal $53 million the headlines will read EMBEZZLEMENT... Now which one sounds like strong arm robbery???? The Black guy will receive 20 years and the white person will receive a suspended/reduced sentence, probation and restitution?? lol
Posted by OldGrandDad (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 2:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
belle_south, sorry but you sound like you have flipped off the deep end with your "black people comment. And I'll stand by what I said about generalizations until intelligence proves me otherwise.
:)
Concerning --> "just about everyone was a part of".
I guess that means the black people too? I think you've just proven that you don't know flip about history.
Sorry about all your expensive jewelry. You should travel lighter.
:)
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 2:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't think the black/white angle to this thread is going anywhere.
belle_south has sort of got a point not so much related but the KKK is pretty much dead aside from the fact that a lot of people like me knew a lot of people who were associated with it but now keep their mouth shut.
Today's remnants of the KKK and the old style of racism are the racism lite that often masquerades as liberal versus conservative banter. Often the conservative southerner is speaking against blacks but using terms such as liberal, welfare cheats, etc. Actually the enemy for them has always included people with more urban and northern roots -- the same forces that broke up the old south -- where blacks could be told what to do and they did it. By and large blacks and their urban and northern allies are called liberals now, but loathed just as much in the same families.
I don't know what Crakalin is yapping about people not wanting to protect my butt. I talk the truth about why there was a terrorist outbreak right in the middle of a US Army base and he got bristly. Acting like I needed someone like him to protect me and I am a vet myself.
My problem is when we really do something that spits back at us I got the cahones to talk about it even though it is politically incorrect to admit we do stupid stuff as a country as a matter of course.
Posted by justthefacts (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 3:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Belle_South" I must admit; I thought there would in no way - ever - be a case where I would actually commend someone who actually posts here at the Nat Demo Online, but I tip my hat to you. There is HOPE in Natchez after all!
Posted by OldGrandDad (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 4:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeahuhuh, even though I disagree with you often, I understand where you are coming from. And for what its worth, I've found that many of my liberal friends turn out to be my best friends when it comes to local politics and issues. You are no exception.
:)
And agreed. I hate threads that get highjacked into black/white stuff. I normally vacate them when that happens cuz you end up with 105 angry and ignorant posts.
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on November 9, 2009 at 5:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks OGD. I don't avoid the race thing much but you are right it does inflame.
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