fort hood

A gunman opened fire on a Fort Hood, Texas, military base on Wednesday, killing 3 and injuring 16 before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

34-year-old Spc. Ivan Lopez was a military truck driver at the base. Officials say he suffered form mental illness. 

From NPR:

[Lopez] was being treated for depression and evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder. The man, Milley said, served four months in Iraq in 2011, but did not receive a Purple Heart, indicating he was not injured in battle.

Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley said authorities don’t think this attack is linked to terrorism, but they are not discarding any theory. A motive, Milley added, is under investigation.

According to the lieutenant general, the gunman came on the post carrying a semi-automatic .45 caliber pistol. He opened fire on one building and then got into a car, where he fired more shots. He got off, entered another building and shot again.

Eventually, a military police officer engaged him in a parking lot and that’s where he shot himself in the head, Milley said.

Read more at NPR

Fort Hood was home to another senseless military shooting, which claimed the lives of 13 military personnel in 2009.

Nidal Hasan, a military psychiatrist, was convicted in the Nov. 5, 2009 tragedy. He was sentenced to death by  a military jury in August 2013.

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