Email this article
Printable version
12 dead, 31 wounded in dual attacks at Fort Hood, Texas
Photo by AP Photo/Jack Plunkett
Sgt. Anthony Sills, right, comforts his wife as they wait outside the Fort Hood Army Base near Killeen, Texas on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. The Sills' 3-year old son is still in daycare on the base, which is in lock-down following a mass shooting earlier in the day.
Obama laments 'horrific outburst of violence'
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Thursday called a mass shooting at a Texas Army base ``a horrific outburst of violence.''
``We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident,'' the commander in chief said. ``We are going to stay on this.''
He said it's a tragedy to lose a soldier overseas and even more horrifying when they come under fire at an Army base on American soil.
The Army says 12 people were killed and more than 30 wounded at the Army base at Fort Hood, Texas.
Obama also said his thoughts and prayers are with the wounded and families of the fallen.
Obama spoke late Thursday afternoon with Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, the commanding officer at Fort Hood, to express condolences and to offer any help Cone needs, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
Obama was getting regular Oval Office updates on the shooting from his staff, led by his homeland security adviser, John Brennan.
Some of the worst U.S. mass shootings in recent years:
Nov. 5, 2009: The Army says 12 people were killed and 31 wounded in a shooting rampage at its Fort Hood base in Texas. Lt. Gen Bob Cone said at a news conference that one shooter, an Army officer, was killed and two other soldiers were apprehended as suspects.
April 3, 2009: A 41-year-old man opened fire at an immigrant community center in Binghamton, N.Y., killing 11 immigrants and two workers. Jiverly Wong, a Vietnamese immigrant and a former student at the center, killed himself as police rushed to the scene.
Feb. 14, 2008: Former student Steven Kazmierczak, 27, opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, fatally shooting five students and wounding 18 others before committing suicide.
Dec. 5, 2007: 19-year-old Robert A. Hawkins opened fire with a rifle in Omaha, Neb., at a Von Maur store in the Westroads Mall, killing eight people before taking his own life. Five more people were wounded, two critically.
April 16, 2007: Cho Seung-Hui, 23, fatally shot 32 people in a dorm and a classroom at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, then killed himself in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Feb. 12, 2007: 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic killed five and wounded four at the Trolley Square mall in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was then shot and killed by police.
Oct. 2, 2006: Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, shot to death five girls at West Nickel Mines Amish School in Pennsylvania, then killed himself.
March 21, 2005: 16-year-old student Jeffrey Weise killed nine people, including his grandfather and his grandfather's companion at home, and then five fellow students, a teacher and a security guard at Red Lake High School in Red Lake, Minnesota, before killing himself. Seven students were wounded.
March 12, 2005: Terry Ratzmann, 44, gunned down members of his congregation as they worshipped at the Brookfield Sheraton in Brookfield, Wisconsin, slaying seven and wounding four before killing himself.
July 29, 1999: Former day trader Mark Barton, 44, killed nine people in shootings at two Atlanta, Georgia, brokerage offices, then committed suicide.
April 20, 1999: Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before committing suicide in the school's library.
March 24, 1998: Andrew Golden, 11, and Mitchell Johnson, 13, killed four girls and a teacher at a Jonesboro, Arkansas, middle school. 10 others were wounded in the shooting.
October 16, 1991: George Hennard, 35, smashed his pickup truck through a Luby's Cafeteria window in Killeen, Texas, and fired on the lunchtime crowd with a high-powered pistol, killing 22 people. At least 20 others were wounded.
Compiled by AP Researcher Julie Reed.
Officials say a shooting suspect at Fort Hood has been identified as Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, who they say was an Army mental health professional.
A law enforcement official said Hasan, believed to be in his late 30s, was killed after opening fire at the base. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
A defense official speaking on condition of anonymity says Hasan was a mental health professional - an Army psychologist or psychiatrist.
It was not known whether he was treating people at the base.
Officials says it was not clear what Hasan's religion was, but investigators are trying to determine if Hasan was his birth name or if he may have changed his name and converted to the Islamic faith at some point.
The shooting began around 1:30 p.m. Cone says that all the casualties took place at the base's Soldier Readiness Center where soldiers who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening.
He says the primary shooter used two handguns in the attack.
advertisement
This 490-acre ranch has exquisite views of the La Plata Mountains, Weber Reservoir & Mesa Verde. Bordered on 2 sides by national forest with abundant wildlife, lush meadows, ponderosa pine, gambel oak, aspen & cottonwoods. A seasonal stream runs through the heart of the ranch. $3,800,000
Durango Herald Calendar of Events
