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Horrible news coming out of Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.
A mass shooting at Ft. Hood military base in Texas has left at least 7 dead and 12 wounded, officials told Fox News.
There were two shooters in the Army base massacre in Killeen, the New York Post reported. One suspect was in custody and the other was on the loose, Fox News confirmed.
The attack apparently happened at the base’s Soldier Readiness Center. Army officials didn’t know whether the victims were civilians or military personnel.
The men were reportedly dressed in Army fatigues, but military officials couldn’t confirm that they were Army personnel.This post will be updated as more details emerge.
Update: From CNN:
At least one person is “neutralized” in connection with the incident, and a second is “cornered,” retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore told CNN, citing “unofficial, unconfirmed reports” from two sources.
I’m reading a little that there may be more than two shooters but nothing confirmed.
Update 2: From McClatchy:
Details of the events were sketchy, but officials said the shooting involved two men with M-16 rifles and began about 1:30 p.m. Central time at Howze Theater on the base, then moved to the sports complex, where the graduation ceremony was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. It was not immediately clear who the ceremony was honoring.
This story is now being covered everywhere, so updates here are likely to add little useful information:
For up to the minute coverage see:
Jay Tea adds: I’m gonna go out on a limb and say we likely have another tragic case of Sudden Jihadi Syndrome…
Update 3: Reports are still very fuzzy, often conflicting. CNN has the total killed at 11 plus one of the attackers. Two more people in custody, which seems to confirm the idea of (at least) three shooters. FOXNews is reporting that the FBI is saying “no terror nexus”, though I am not sure exactly what nexus means in this case.
Update 4: Some of this text is now missing from the ABC article, but linked from Hot Air:
The suspected gunman was identified as Major Malik Nadal Hasan. He was killed and two other suspects have been apprehended.
which also links to this tweet by ABC’s Brian Ross:
Shooter identified as Maj Malik Hassan, convert to Islam.
Consider the powder keg lit.
Kim adds: The AP is reporting that Hasan received a poor evaluation when he worked as a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Medical Center:
The Virginia-born soldier was single with no children. He was 39 years old.
He is a graduate of 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, Md., in 2001. At Walter Reed, he did his internship, residency and a fellowship.
Major Nadal Malik Hasan’s cousin Nadar Hasan was on Fox News talking with Shepard Smith and said that Nadal Malik Hasan was always Muslim and joined the military before 9/11. ‘//.l.//He also confirmed that Nadal Malik Hasan did not want to be deployed to Iraq because of what he heard from returning soldiers. My question is this: if his only beef was that he was upset at being deployed to Iraq, then why didn’t he just go AWOL? If he were ever caught, he would have been court martialed but the consequences would not have been as bad as being killed while in the process of cutting down fellow soldiers. I’m guessing there were additional motives to Hasan’s actions.
Important Update: Lt. Gen. Cone is conducting a press conference as I write this in which he said that Major Nidal Malik Hasan, MD was not killed but is was wounded and in custody.
