Twelve dead, 31 wounded in Texas military base shooting
US Army soldiers train at a practice facility resembling an urban environment in Fort Hood, Texas, in …
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AFP) – At least one American soldier went on a shooting rampage Thursday in a sprawling Texas military base killing 11 people and wounding 31 others before being gunned down, army officials said.
Two other soldiers were arrested after the shooting spree and were being held as suspects, said Lieutenant General Bob Cone, commander at Fort Hood, the largest US military base in the world.
The soldier, identified as Major Malik Nadal Hasan, opened fire with two handguns in a busy processing center where troops go before being deployed on overseas missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cone told reporters the motive for the attack remained unclear. "We don't know that right now. Again, this is all under investigation," he stressed, adding he believed the incident was now over.
US President Barack Obama, who had been kept informed of the shooting as the drama was tracked in the White House situation room, denounced the attack as "an horrific outburst of violence." Fort Hood shootings 'horrific': Obama
"My immediate thoughts and prayers are with the wounded. And with the families of the fallen," Obama said.
"It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on American soil."
Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said Malik was about to be deployed to Iraq.
"I am shocked and saddened by today?s outburst of violence at Fort Hood that has cost seven of our brave service members their lives and has gravely injured others. My heart goes out to their loved ones," she said.
General Cone confirmed that 12 people were dead including the shooter.
"At approximately 1:30 today, a shooter entered what we call the soldier readiness facility, where soldiers getting ready to deploy go for check ups and treatment. A shooter opened fire. That person was killed.
"As I said, the shooter was killed. He was a soldier," Cone said.
Cone added that after a manhunt on the sprawling base in Killeen they had "apprehended two additional soldiers who are suspects, and I would go into the point that there were eyewitness accounts that there may have been more than one shooter."
He said he had been stunned by the incident, adding "soldiers and family members and many of the great civilians that work here are absolutely devastated. Fort Hood: Shooting scene is army's largest, mightiest post
"I want to express my condolences to the soldiers, the families, and the civilians in this great community in central Texas. This is a tragedy, but we will work through it."
Fort Hood has been working to rehabilitate many soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, local congressman John Carter told MSNBC.
Fort Hood is the headquarters of the Army 3rd Corps, the 4th Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Division. All those units have seen extensive duty in Iraq.
In May 2007, five men suspected of being Islamic militatns were arrested by the FBI as part of a plot to attack the US base in Fort Dix, New Jersey. Four were sentenced in April to life imprisonment, and the fifth to 30 years.
smh tats so sad 2 die there & not @ the actual war ya kno
rip yall
It's horrible. poor people.
