<p>There has been a horrible massacre at Fort Hood - about 2:30 Eastern time. </p>
<p>7 people dead, 20 people wounded. Two suspects in custody. Maybe a third still at large. Siren warnings still going off on base, so danger may still exist. Base on lock down in the largest military installation in the free world. Target was the troop processing center. </p>
<p>500 military personnel sweeping the base (I understand it is an incredibly large base). Maybe lots of unknowns, or another suspect. </p>
<p>MSNBC simulcasting with a local station. </p>
<p>Motives uncertain, and not enough information to draw any conclusions about the suspects.</p>
<p>Nope - I am in DC - and am carefully avoiding calling acquaintances in high places who would assuredly know more about this situation so as not to compromise or bother them. </p>
<p>News reports at this point are saying that they don’t think so. I’ve read so many articles in the past ten minutes I don’t remember which one said so anymore.</p>
<p>ETA: MSNBC is having senator hutchinson talk and she is saying that the shooter was an officer in the military who was supposed to be deployed to iraq and was upset about it-- the newscaster said they thought he had family there and didnt want to go fight but none of the officials they have interviewed have confirmed that, at least not since I turned on the tv a minute ago.</p>
<p>Pretty horrible. The main shooter seems to have been an Army major with an Arabic name. He is dead – shot in a gun battle with a civilian police officer, who is also dead. Two other soldiers are in custody, but not entirely clear that they were shooting, too, although the early reports had shootings going on simultaneously in adjacent buildings.</p>
<p>"A law enforcement official identified the shooting suspect as Army Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan. The official said Hasan, believed to be in his late 30s, was killed after opening fire at the base. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.</p>
<p>The official says investigators are trying to determine if Hasan was his birth name, or if he changed his name and converted to Islam at some point in his life."</p>
<p>“The slain gunman was identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, a law enforcement source told CNN. Licensed in Virginia, Hasan was a psychiatrist who previously worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center but more recently was practicing at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, according to professional records”</p>
<p>The shooter is an MD–psychiatrist who was treating PTSD and other military stress related illnesses. He apparently was due to be deployed to the middle east soon.</p>
<p>Death toll up to 13, 30 wounded. One of the wounded is now deceased. </p>
<p>How the heck did this guy shoot 43 people? It is said he had two hand guns. There is still a lock-down with little info coming out. This is tragic in so many ways.</p>
<p>Hard to know if shooter was an Islamic terrorist or just a serviceman who snapped from the stress from deployments. Either way, one group or another (or both) will be hit with the blowback from this.</p>
<p>“FORT HOOD, Texas – An Army officer opened fire Thursday with two handguns at the Fort Hood military base in an attack that left 12 people dead and 31 wounded. Authorities killed the gunman and apprehended two other soldiers in what appears to be the worst mass shooting at a U.S. military base.”</p>
<p>Two other “suspects” have been released. Apparently they had guns drawn but this was a defensive move and they were not involved. And as in post 13, death toll is up to 13.</p>
<p>"NBC News’ Pete Williams reported that U.S. officials identified the gunman as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who had been promoted to major in May. Defense officials said Hasan, 39, arrived at Fort Hood in July after practicing for six years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, which included a fellowship in disaster and preventive psychiatry. "</p>
<p>The shooter is not dead. According to the current update from Ford Hood, the shooter is not dead, but wounded and in stable condition. His death is not imminent.</p>