Reuters: One killed, 14 wounded in Fort Hood shooting incident: official

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/02/us-usa-shooting-forthood-idUSBREA3129C20140402

One killed, 14 wounded in Fort Hood shooting incident: official

 

One person was killed and 14 were wounded on Wednesday in a shooting incident at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 

The official, who noted the information was preliminary, said he could not confirm the status of the shooter.

 

https://twitter.com/CBSNews

CBS News has confirmed w law enforcement officials: 4 dead in Fort Hood shooting, including the shooter  

8:05 PM

 

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

3-6 and 21st Cav here. At Fort Hood almost three years. Killeen, Texas is the most miserable place I've ever been. And that's saying something.

[Thekyle1591]

Just an awful situation. Feel terrible for the victims. 

[Mad Mike]

This sucks doesn't seem to cover it but it's all I can say right now. I'm not even watching the coverage because I know it's going to be days before the there is a clear picture of what happened.

[Dan T.]

I saw the thread and hoped it was a bump from 2009.  Damn.

[abdcskins]

Horrible.

Once again, mental health problems. Seems to always be connected with these shootings.

[Slateman]

Horrible.

Once again, mental health problems. Seems to always be connected with these shootings.

I think it's pretty safe to say that anyone who would start shooting random people is probably suffering from some sort of mental health issue.

[AsburySkinsFan]

Unfortunately, the death toll has climbed to three.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/03/us-usa-shooting-forthood-idUSBREA3129C20140403

[The Evil Genius]

Maybe, just maybe, the military powers that be will finally take this mental health thing seriously.

 

You have a soldier who has been diganosed with depression and is undergoing evaluation for PTSD and he's allowed to be armed on base?

 

Seems odd.

[lovetoaster]

Maybe, just maybe, the military powers that be will finally take this mental health thing seriously.

 

You have a soldier who has been diganosed with depression and is undergoing evaluation for PTSD and he's allowed to be armed on base?

 

Seems odd.

 

I don't think he was "allowed" to be armed on base. From what I heard, he recently bought the gun and did not have it registered on base.

 

He carried out the killings with his own gun -- a .45-caliber Smith and Wesson semiautomatic pistol he bought after arriving in Killeen.

By taking it onto the base, he was breaking the rules.

 

"If you have weapons and you're on base, it's supposed to be registered on base," Milley said. "This weapon was not registered on base."

 

In addition, people who are not military police are not allowed to walk around with guns on a military base. They are required to store them in an armory.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/03/us/fort-hood-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Maybe, just maybe, the military powers that be will finally take this mental health thing seriously.

 

You have a soldier who has been diganosed with depression and is undergoing evaluation for PTSD and he's allowed to be armed on base?

 

Seems odd.

 

They definitely don't just casually arm people on base. I was a punk kid when i was in. 18 years old, fresh off of being expelled from high school and getting a GED. Needless to say, I stayed in trouble. My normal punishment was guard duty at the airfield there on base. Normally midnight to 6ish. So since I was "guarding" the airfield, i.e. Checking IDs, they gave me a rifle. You think they gave me ammo for that rifle? Hell no. I never pulled guard duty at any of the bases main entrances but I know people who did and that same held true. Outside of the MPs, the regular soldiers with rifles don't have any ammo. They're very strict about arming anyone for anything. Outside of getting ammo right there at the shooting range, I can't recaoll ever being armed. And this was all back fresh off 9/11 (actually enlisted month before 9/11, went to basic 2/3 weeks after. Talk about good timing). So even during this time they didn't give out ammo. I've been out for quite awhile now but I can't imagine they've gotten MORE lax with arming folks since. 

[The Evil Genius]

Thanks lovetoaster and GACOLB, I was trying to figure out why he was allowed on base with a firearm. I'm guessing he drove on base with it in his car? Definitely harder to check for then.

[lovetoaster]

Thanks lovetoaster and GACOLB, I was trying to figure out why he was allowed on base with a firearm. I'm guessing he drove on base with it in his car? Definitely harder to check for then.

 

Yeah, that is essentially what I heard. That he drove in with it.

[The Evil Genius]

Still, there seems to be a frightening level of violence occurring at the workplace (on bases) in the past few years. I wonder if mental illness is more prevalant in the military than in the civilian world?

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Thanks lovetoaster and GACOLB, I was trying to figure out why he was allowed on base with a firearm. I'm guessing he drove on base with it in his car? Definitely harder to check for then.

 

Yeah if you're a soldier, military ID and ESPECIALLY if you're in uniform, they are very lax and casual on searching you coming on base. They might have the dog walk around the car, might use a mirror to check underneath, but that's essentially it. So a handgun? Throw it in a bag with groceries, hell, sit on it or put it under your seat. Easy. 

 

 

Actually have a great story about coming on a base. This isn't the thread for it though so I'll post it in the random thoughts thread 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Still, there seems to be a frightening level of violence occurring at the workplace (on bases) in the past few years. I wonder if mental illness is more prevalant in the military than in the civilian world?

 

I think that the problem is that many of these Vets have spent very long periods of time deployed.   These same kinds of things happened in virtually every War this country has ever fought.   You can't expect human beings to come home from War without War effecting them.   That's just not reasonable IMO.   This is why it's a damn shame to see these servicemen and women having benefits cut, the way they have been over the past few years.   That's another discussion all together but let me just say that those kinds of decisions don't come without a price.  It's a pay me now, pay me later kind of situation IMO.

 

 

However, with regards to this man, he was only deployed once, from what I hear and he only spent 1 year deployed and only 4 months in Iraq.   I don't believe he ever saw any combat so I think this guy was probably just disturbed for reasons that may not be related to Combat or the MIlitary.   Hard to say at this point.

[The Evil Genius]

As a Navy brat, it saddens me to see the level on violence at home on the bases. 

 

Have the lower standards (perceived) hurt the quality of soldiers in our military and created this mess also?

[abdcskins]

I think it's pretty safe to say that anyone who would start shooting random people is probably suffering from some sort of mental health issue.

 

Precisely.  Which is why we need to find away to help combat the issue.

[Popeman38]

As someone who was at Ft Hood multiple times over my 8 years in, this is horrible. However, I am a very big proponent of officers carrying sidearms on base. Always have been. It is beyond comprehension to me that a military installation is a no carry zone for those on duty (with the exception of ranges and field exercises - the latter with no ammo). Of all the places to be a soft target. As stated, if you have an ID and a installation decal, you have carte blanche to drive on post with whatever you want in your vehicle. A quick glance by the gate guard is what you will get 99% of the time with those 2 items.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Here's the mass shooting in Killeen (the town outside the base) that I referenced earlier.

http://www.chron.com/life/article/Shooting-rampage-at-Killeen-Luby-s-left-24-dead-2037092.php

Happened in '91 it turns out. I just remember hearing about it when I lived there, never knew the details. Guy drove his pickup truck through the front door of a restaurant, got out and proceeded to kill 24 people over the next 15 minutes. So yeah, this is the THIRD mass shooting in Fort Hood/Killeen over the last 23 years. Telling you all, that place is a miserable existence. Doesn't surprise me at all. Was so happy when I got the **** out of there.

[sacase]

They definitely don't just casually arm people on base. I was a punk kid when i was in. 18 years old, fresh off of being expelled from high school and getting a GED. Needless to say, I stayed in trouble. My normal punishment was guard duty at the airfield there on base. Normally midnight to 6ish. So since I was "guarding" the airfield, i.e. Checking IDs, they gave me a rifle. You think they gave me ammo for that rifle? Hell no. I never pulled guard duty at any of the bases main entrances but I know people who did and that same held true. Outside of the MPs, the regular soldiers with rifles don't have any ammo. They're very strict about arming anyone for anything. Outside of getting ammo right there at the shooting range, I can't recaoll ever being armed. And this was all back fresh off 9/11 (actually enlisted month before 9/11, went to basic 2/3 weeks after. Talk about good timing). So even during this time they didn't give out ammo. I've been out for quite awhile now but I can't imagine they've gotten MORE lax with arming folks since. 

 

I enlisted in 97. One of my additional duties was unit armorer. Since we were a very small unit I had about 20 M9's and 20 M16A2's. We kept 2 magazines with 10 rounds each locked in the Arms room. They were there just in case the alarm system went down and we had to physically guard the arms room, which happened one time. Otherwise, Arms and ammunition is kept far apart. In fact, you have to send your ammo handler to get it from the ASP and they have to meet you at the range. After you are done, they have to turn in all the brass and you better have all of your brass. They definitely keep accountability of ammunition. 

As someone who was at Ft Hood multiple times over my 8 years in, this is horrible. However, I am a very big proponent of officers carrying sidearms on base. Always have been. It is beyond comprehension to me that a military installation is a no carry zone for those on duty (with the exception of ranges and field exercises - the latter with no ammo). Of all the places to be a soft target. As stated, if you have an ID and a installation decal, you have carte blanche to drive on post with whatever you want in your vehicle. A quick glance by the gate guard is what you will get 99% of the time with those 2 items.

Do you really think some officer is going to put his life at risk to stop some crazy? There may be a few, but no its not going to happen. Additionally, I don't like the message that it sends, that an officer can terminate your life when he see's fit, it screams of decimation. 

Still, there seems to be a frightening level of violence occurring at the workplace (on bases) in the past few years. I wonder if mental illness is more prevalant in the military than in the civilian world?

I would say mental illness is only more prevalent because of the stressful conditions that soldiers must face. Watching your friends get shot, killed, blown up or maimed, plus getting shot at constantly can really affect the mind. I have a buddy in the MC, who has been on 5 deployments in the last 8 years. That's 5 years of being shot at and blown up. So many soldiers minds are not right due to those conditions, they deserve to be made whole again, or at least given as much treatment as needed.