Thursday, November 05, 2009 FNC A map showing the location of a mass shooting at Ft. Hood Army post in Killeen, Texas. A shooting rampage Thursday afternoon at the Army's Fort Hood in Texas killed 11 and wounded 31 before the gunman was killed and two suspects taken into custody. All three of the people believed to have carried out the shooting were soldiers, Lt. General Bob Cone told reporters Thursday evening, though the motive remains unclear. AP cites an unnamed source saying the gunman was Major Malik Nadal Hasan, though authorities have not publicly identified him. Cone said witnesses reported seeing more than one shooter, but that couldn't be confirmed. The primary shooter used two handguns, he said. The shooting took place 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the post's Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers undergo medical screening before being deployed or after returning from overseas. "We have a terrible, tragic situation here," said Cone. "Soldiers, family members and the civilians that work here are absolutely devastated." Cone said the injuries "vary significantly" among the victims wounded in the shooting. The victims include one civilian police officer. George Stratton's son George Stratton III was five feet away from the shooter at the Soldier Readiness Center and suffered a gunshot wound to his left shoulder. "He said he was there doing medical stuff and all of a sudden someone came through the door, walked behind the desk and just started shooting," Stratton told FoxNews.com. He said about 15 rounds went off and people started dropping to the floor. "He peaked up over the desk and that's when he was shot in the shoulder, and he just went down again. He said he saw one of his NCOs get badly shot," Stratton told FoxNews.com after talking to his son in the hospital. "After he got shot he told me, 'Dad, I got up, held my arm and took off running.'" Stratton said his son was expected to be deployed to Afghanistan in January after going to basic training exactly a year ago. "It's pretty hard to believe something like this happened," Stratton told FoxNews.com. "I think he's probably had his fill of war already." President Obama called the shooting a "horrific outburst of violence" on members of the nation's armed forces. "It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on American soil." He said he doesn't yet know all the details but promised the government would get "answers to every single question." Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said the shooting was a terrible tragedy for all of the military families affected. The base and area schools were on lockdown after the mass shooting, and all those on the Army post were asked to gather for a head count. Covering 339 square miles, 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. FoxNews.com's Michelle Maskaly and The Associated Press contributed to this report.Sources Identify Major as Gunman in Deadly Shooting Rampage at Fort Hood
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Posts
