A soldier opened fire Wednesday on fellow service members at the Fort Hood military base, killing three people and wounding 16 before committing suicide at the same post where more than a dozen people were slain in a 2009 attack, authorities said, according to CBS News.
Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the suspect was named Ivan Lopez but offered no other details, CBS reported. There is no evidence pointing to a terrorist motive behind the shooting.
The shooter apparently walked into a building and began firing a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, according to CBS. He then got into a vehicle and continued firing before entering another building and kept shooting.
He was eventually confronted by military police in a parking lot, CBS reported. As he came within 20 feet of an officer, the gunman put his hands up but then reached under his jacket and pulled out his gun.
The officer drew her own weapon, and the suspect put his gun to his head and pulled the trigger a final time, according to Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley, senior officer on the base, according to CBS.
The gunman, who served in Iraq for four months in 2011, had sought help for depression, anxiety and other problems, CBS reported.
Before the attack, he had been undergoing an assessment to determine whether he had post-traumatic stress disorder, Milley said, according to CBS.
The married suspect had arrived at Fort Hood in February from another base, CBS reported.
He was taking medication, and there were reports that he had complained after returning from Iraq about suffering a traumatic brain injury, Milley said, according to CBS. The gunman was never wounded in action, according to military records, Milley added.
The gunman's weapon had been purchased recently in the local area and was not registered to be on the base, CBS reported. Among the possibilities they planned to explore was whether a fight or argument on base triggered the attack.
At least three of the nine patients at Scott and White Hospital in Temple were listed in critical condition, according to CBS.
Wednesday's attack immediately revived memories of the shocking 2009 assault on Fort Hood, which was the deadliest attack on a domestic military installation in U.S. history, CBS reported. Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded.
In September, a former Navy man opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard, leaving 13 people dead, including the gunman, according to CBS.
After that shooting, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the Pentagon to review security at all U.S. defense installations worldwide and examine the granting of security clearances that allow access to them CBS reported.
Asked Wednesday about security improvements in the wake of the shootings, Hagel said, according to CBS. "Obviously when we have these kinds of tragedies on our bases, something's not working."
