Houston: Just a day after the deadly shooting incident at otherwise quiet Fort Hood military base in Texas, life is slowly getting back to normal, but not without affecting minds of several who were still struggling to forget wounds imparted by similar incident almost 5 years back.
On Thursday, a US soldier went on a shooting spree killing three colleagues and wounding 16 others before taking his own life at the base that was the scene of a deadly shooting rampage in 2009.
Although educational institutions were open and back to work, physical training of soldiers was cancelled. Fort hood is home to almost 40,000 soldiers-- two full divisions and 12 other units. Apparently, it is like any other quiet suburban neighbourhood and such violence seems totally out of place.
Although it has now been revealed that the gunman, Ivan Lopez (34), had mental health issues, and was being treated for depression and anxiety, Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, head of the Army's III Corps at Fort Hood has said, "We do know that this soldier had behavioural health and mental health issues and was being treated for that."
Authorities have said Lopez was being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder, but had not yet been diagnosed for the illness.
As well as being assessed for signs of PTSD, Lopez was also undergoing treatment for depression, anxiety and a "variety" of other issues, Milley confirmed.
Lopez, who was on medication, reportedly served four months in Iraq in 2011 and had "self-diagnosed" a traumatic brain injury. However, Milley said, "He was not wounded in action."
Lopez, who carried out the shooting with a .45-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun, was married and "does have family," the Lt. Gen. said. He reportedly died with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The shooting took place at 4 p.m. (local time) on Thursday. The latest update by the Fort Hood Press Center stated: "Fort Hood's Directorate of Emergency Services has an initial report that a shooter is dead but this is unconfirmed.
The injured personnel are being transported to Carl R. Darnall Medical Center and other local hospitals.
"Numerous law enforcement agencies are in support and on the scene. The number of injured are not confirmed at this time. No further details are known at this time. ..The post is currently still on lock down."
President Barack Obama issued a statement regarding the shooting on Thursday evening. "We're heartbroken something like this might have happened again," he said. "We're following it closely. I want to just assure all of us we are going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened."
Earlier, in 2009, Fort Hood was the scene of the worst mass shooting ever to take place at a military base in the US. It left 13 people dead and more than 30 injured. The gunman, Major Nidal Hasan, a former army psychiatrist, was convicted by a military court and sentenced to death in August last year.
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