Four service members are dead and 16 injured after a shooter opened fire at Ford Hood in Texas, the same military base targeted in a 2009 mass shooting.
At 9:40 p.m. central, almost five hours after the shooting, Army officials at the base spoke to press.
LT. GEN. MARK MILLEY: "Our focus now is to focus on the families of the injured and focus on the families of the killed, and make sure they have the best counseling available." (Via NBC)
That news conference confirmed some of the details that were so hard to come by throughout Wednesday evening. Among them: that no links to terrorism have been found in this case; that the shooter was a soldier who had served in Iraq in 2011; he was being examined for post-traumatic stress disorder; and that the shooter had indeed shot and killed himself. (Via KWTX)
Army officials left the shooter's name unconfirmed. But hours earlier Texas Rep. Mike McCaul told reporters 34-year-old Ivan Lopez had been identified as the shooter. (Via CBS)
The shooting was reported at the corner of 72nd St. and Support Ave. at the Medical Brigade Building, near the area targeted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. The 1st Calvary Division Headquarters is about a block northeast of that. (Via Google)
The four-casualty figure includes the shooter and the three people he killed. All of the people shot, whether killed or injured, were soldiers and military personnel. President Obama gave his condolences in a brief statement to press.
BARACK OBAMA: "Obviously, this reopens the pain from what happened at Fort Hood five years ago ... We are heartbroken that something like this might've happened again." (Via CNN)
The 2009 shooting resulted in 13 deaths. Nidal Hassan, the accused shooter, was a radicalized anti-American and a psychiatrist on the base. The U.S. Senate described it as the worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. (Via ABC)
Army officials say the shooter turned his weapon on himself when confronted by military police. His gun, a Smith & Wesson .45 caliber handgun, was not registered on base as it was required to be. Fort Hood officials have planned another news conference for mid-day Thursday.
