At least 12 people are dead and as many as thirty-one injured after a gunman reportedly opened up on residents, visitors, and police officers at Fort Hood, located near Killeen, Texas, about an hour north of Austin:
KILLEEN, Texas -- Twelve people are dead and 31 wounded after as many as 3 soldiers opened fire on the Fort Hood Army base. Lt. Gen Bob Cone said at a news conference that one shooter has been killed and two suspects were apprehended on Thursday. He says they are all U.S. soldiers.
There are conflicting reports on the two other suspects and some confusion over what type of weapons were involved. The situation is very fluid and we'll update when we know more. Ft. Hood is in total lockdown, news conference scheduled shortly. No information on the motive known at this time. See also TexDude's diary.
FYI, this is the exact same region where George Jo Hennard killed 23 people at a Luby's Cafeteria and not far from the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.
Update: 40 year-old Army major Malik Nadal Hasan identified as primary and possibly only gunman, press conference officer says he used two handguns and was killed by police response:
The shootings began about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the sports dome, a personnel and medical processing center known as the Soldier Readiness Center. The spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Banks says the second incident took place at the near by Howze Theater. The Howze Theater was scheduled to hold a college graduation service this afternoon.
Update: Still not clear if there's a connection between the other two suspects or if they were even involved. Were they in cahoots with the dead gunman? Or did they witness the initial shots and start shooting back, did they get scared and start shooting at anyone who came near where they were holed up? No idea, not enough info, it's a confusing situation. No one is saying and Ft. Hood is in full lockdown. We may not get a clear picture on exactly what all happened for a while folks.
Update: The Austin American Statesman is reporting the other two suspects have been released from custody.