Fort Hood Death Toll Now 12
UPDATE: The commander of Fort Hood said that the gunman, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was in custody and hospitalized in stable condition, contradicting earlier reports from officials that he had been killed in what is believed to be the deadliest mass shooting on a U.S. military base.SOURCE
Local news is reporting Hasan graduated from Virginia Tech.
Correction via CNN….Maj. Nadal Malik Hasan, M.D.
CNN is reporting that Maj. Nadal Malik Hasan was a psychiatrist who was upset about being deployed to Iraq. These are initial reports subject to change as more information comes in.
UPDATE:
The slain gunman was identified as Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, according to a law enforcement source. The source believes he is 39 or 40 years old.
Ten of the other dead also were soldiers, while the remaining one was a civilian police officer who was working as a contractor on the base, Cone said. SOURCE
I’ll update as information becomes available. I was out for a few hours and haven’t caught up yet on all the news.
FORT HOOD (November 5, 2009)—Fort Hood remains on lockdown late Thursday afternoon after a shooting that apparently involved three soldiers that left 12 people dead and 31 more injured.
A soldier whom officials identified as the gunman is dead.
Two other soldiers are in custody in connection with the shooting, but their roles were not clear.
The shooting started at about 1:30 p.m., according to a military statement, reportedly in the Sports Dome, which now serves as a center for soldiers and families preparing for deployment.
One of the dead is a civilian police officer, Fort Hood confirmed.
All available ambulances and paramedics in the area responded to the post.
Some of the wounded were taken to Darnall Army Medical Center and others were flown or taken by ambulance to Scott & White Hospital in Temple.
November 5th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
I may be wrong, but I cannot recall an incident of this scale in all my years happening at a MILITARY BASE ! We think, maybe naively, that they are the safest place you can be.
Hugs for Fort Hood !
Sage Reply:
November 5th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
I don’t remember anything like this either.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
All local channels have been covering it all day and it’s pretty much ‘our local base’. It’s really scary! I wonder how the wounded are doing. I have not heard if they are serious, critical, non life threatening, etc.
Sage Reply:
November 5th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I just heard that the shooter is not dead. I’ll update when I get confirmation.
November 6th, 2009 at 9:16 am
I , for one, am glad he’s alive so he can stand in court and face up to what he’s done. I read that he counseled those who were losing a grip and gettng frustrated. I guess he could not apply those lessons to his own life. I also have thought for YEARS and years that it seems like people who walk a fragile line of sanity are often drawn to learn about psychiatry! Anyone else notice that? Its ironic.
skyagunsta Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 10:20 am
@AliSilver, You are right. Lots of people are drawn into the psychiatry/psychology/counselig field as a venue for them to deal with their own unfinished business. Many do a pretty good job of doing just that, dealing with their own unfinished business and leaving it out of their clients’ therapies. For instance Jung analysts cannot become Jung analysts unless they themselves have received years of analysis into their own unfinished business. There are trends in many of therapy training programs that do the same thing, they help students/trainees to focus on and deal with their own unfinished business …however, other training programs, unfortunately, focus just on the teaching side of things, leaving the trainee’s own unfinished business out of the equation … that is just too bad. It can lead to unfortunate results.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Candidates for social work and any kind of psychiatric counseling undergo counseling themselves. I believe they continue intermitently as well throughout their career. I do not know, however what the military requires for them as a check and balance.
I ran into my old professor at my Senators office this summer when we both chose the same time to go talk to the Sen about health care. We talked about this and how hard it was to tell someone well into the program that they were not a viavle candidate for the profession. I realized myself that I tended to absorb the pain of the client and that it wasn’t healthy for me to pursue the degree.
That being said, I know the military is overwhelmed by returning soldiers and their trrauma from what they have seen and done. My daughter was dating a young soldier for awhile that was injured by an IED. During his recovery, a couple of his fellow soldiers killed themselves.
November 6th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
I’m just imagining the parents !
Here is this large group of young folks, about to depart for war. Their families are praying for their safe return. Of course some of them may not come back, but a big majority of them WILL come home. So the families have already faced this trauma of knowing how war goes…..but even in war, their baby MIGHT come home, probably WOULD come home…. and then this….. IT JUST SUCKS ! 
Sage Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
It’s a very sad situation and add to it the shooting of today and I’m afraid we are seeing signs of the times. Wars, unemployment, people losing their homes, ……the pressure keeps mounting and when the pressure mounts some people snap. Unfortunately those people often grab a gun and take other people with them.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I first want to say that my prayers are for the families and for the shooters family. Second, I hate the media coverage of this, right now. They jumped the ship with rumors or speculation. The right wingers are going nutty over him being Muslim. Sigh. I’m just sorry this all happened. Crazy times right now.
Sage Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
It’s truly sad. It is crazy times.
Wizcon Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
@Sage, It has always been that way. In “the old days” Dan Rather would have come on the sir with a flack jacket on adding to the drama and sense of urgency.