By Doug Wyllie
FireRescue1 Staff
FORT HOOD, Texas — At least 12 people are dead and dozens more have been wounded in a shooting at the Soldier Readiness Center located at at Fort Hood.
The suspected gunman has been identified as Major Malik Nadal Hasan. Hasan, reportedly about 39 or 40 years old, was killed by military police officers who had responded to the incident.
The Nolanville Fire Department reportedly told local News Channel 25 that they’ve been asked to bring all available EMS and Rescue personnel for the mass casualty incident.
The U.S. Army base, which is the largest U.S. military installation in the world and home of both the 1st Cavalry Division and the First Army Division West, is located outside Killeen, Texas. Nearby schools, inclduing the Killeen Independet School District, had been put on soft lockdown. Other U.S. military bases had been placed on an alert status, but none on official lockdown.
“A shooter opened fire and due to the quick response of police forces, the shooter was killed,” Lt. General Bob Cone said during an impromptu press conference several moments before 1400 (Pacific Time). “He [the primary shooter] was a soldier.”
Cone also confirmed that two other suspected shooters were military personnel. “We have since apprehended two additional soldiers — both are suspects. They were apprehended and are suspects at this time.”
Cone said also that “all the casualties were at the initial incident,” and that both weapons used by the primary shooter were handguns.
Carroll Smith, Public Information Officer for nearby Killeen Police Department, told FireRescue1 immediately following the initial reports of the shooting that her department was standing by and ready to aid in the response. Smith then confirmed early reports that there were two attackers — “one shooter is in custody, one other is contained,” Smith said.
Smith said further that her counterparts at Fort Hood were “not releasing anything because everything is chaos there right now. I’ve been there, done that. We’re just waiting to get a call from them should they need our assistance.”
Texas DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange told FireRescue1, “Texas Highway Patrol Troopers and Texas Rangers responded to the scene to assist in securing perimeter and provide other assistance.”
According to the very first reports from national news sources, it was unknown whether victims were soldiers or civilians. “One gunman was reportedly in custody and another was on the loose,” said and early report from NBC News. Subsequent reports indicate that most, if not all, of the casualties are U.S. military personnel.
Barbara Starr, Pentagon Reporter for CNN had reported at 1330 hrs. (Pacific Time) that as many as nine people were dead and as many as 30 have been wounded. Those numbers, as noted above have since been updated by the U.S. Army.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore told CNN that “one person is ‘neutralized’ in connection with the incident, and a second is ‘cornered’.”
STRATFOR issued a report that said, in part, “While details are still coming in, this appears to be a premeditated and coordinated attack and follows previous plots foiled by U.S. security forces, such as the Fort Dix plot and the recent North Carolina terror plot. It remains to be seen if this attack is the work of a grassroots jihadist cell or a lone-wolf or mutiny type of attack.”
In a live interview on CNN, Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said that she had spoken with an Army General on the base, who had told her that both of the shooters were wearing military uniforms, although it is unclear whether the shooters were impersonators or military personnel.
“It’s difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas,” President Obama said during a late afternoon press conference. “It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.”
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Nathan Banks told the Associated Press that “the first shooting began at about 1:30 p.m. at a personnel and medical processing office.”