ABOVE: Authorities are looking into the mental state of a married Army specialist and father allegedly responsible for a deadly rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. Omar Villafranca has more.
FORT HOOD, Texas – Officials at Fort Hood have released few details about the gunman who killed three people before taking his own life in a shooting Wednesday at the sprawling Army base. Here’s what we know about the gunman.
– His name is Ivan Lopez. He is married, has other family members and lives in the Fort Hood area, having arrived at the post in February from another military base in Texas. He was assigned to the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) at Fort Hood, which is a logistics and support unit. Officials did not release his rank on Wednesday, but said he was not in the process of leaving the Army.
– Lopez served for four months in Iraq in 2011. He was not wounded in action while serving overseas, but self-reported a traumatic brain injury upon his return to the U.S. “He was not a wounded warrior,” said Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the senior officer at Fort Hood. “He was not wounded in action, to our records, no Purple Heart, not wounded in action in that regard.”
– Lopez had several mental health issues. He was taking medication and receiving psychiatric help for depression and anxiety, and was undergoing a process to determine whether he had post-traumatic stress disorder. “We do not know a motive,” Milley said. “We do know that this soldier had behavioural health and mental health issues, and was being treated for that.”
– Lopez had one weapon, a .45 calibre Smith and Wesson handgun, that was not registered with post authorities as required. Authorities don’t yet know how much ammunition he was carrying.
– Lopez died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He killed himself in a parking lot at the base transportation brigade’s administration building, after he was confronted by a military policewoman. “It was clearly heroic, what she did at that moment in time,” Milley said. “She did her job, and she did exactly what we would expect of United States Army military police.”
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Sources: Milley; U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul, the chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee; AP reporting.
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