Killeen-Ft. Hood

[Thirteen]

Thinking of all the people affected by this, and praying for safety and peace.
The brokenness of the whole situation just really gets to me.

[MrsK]

Jenn, I thought of you too. So glad your DH is safe.

Just read a report that the shooter was the army psychiatrist. He was about to be deployed to Iraq and was unhappy about it.

[Amiens]

I heard from my friend, she and her family were away at the marriage retreat in San Antonio. So she and her family were elsewhere.

[bokelley]

I just heard about this. I am in shock! My heart goes out to all the families, did the shooter have a family?

[bokelley]

I just saw something on CNN.com, that they are saying the gunman is alive. He was injured but in stable condition.

[Bittersweet]

This is horrible. Just horrible.

[seaside*bliss]

Jenn, I thought of you too. So glad your DH is safe.

Just read a report that the shooter was the army psychiatrist. He was about to be deployed to Iraq and was unhappy about it.

Wow, this whole situation is just crazy. I feel so much sorrow for the people that have been affected by this

[Rapunzel]

Are there still reports that the gunman had help? In other words - was this some type of pre-meditated attack OR was it a lone guy who just went psycho on everyone???

[Rapunzel]

I was curious to know if there really were two other people involved.

Instead what I found out is that the Associated Press is reporting the FBI was aware of this doctor because of posts he had made somewhere praising suicide bombers.

Federal law enforcement officials told the Associated Press that Hasan had come to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats. The officials said they are still trying to confirm that he was the author.

One of the Web postings that authorities reviewed is a blog that equates homicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades.

"To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate. Its more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause," said the Internet posting. "Scholars have paralled (sic) this to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers."

Just very sad - for so many people.

[GrayMatterWife]

they are all reporting his name now: Major/Dr. Nadal Malik Hassan MD

Honestly, his parents being Jordanian and his being Muslim seems kind of coincidental to me, in this situation. He doesn't sound like he subscribed to radical practice of Islam. He sounds like a guy who became unhinged. Maybe in part due to his job...? He worked with the guys who were receiving treatment for PTSD. NOT that this excuses him in ANY way.

But, for me, I say (to the easily excited media), let's save the label "terrorist" for actual terrorists--the guys who are part of a organized religion, belief, whatever, that subscribes to and encourages organized violence for the purpose of terrorizing people into acquiescing to their religious or political agenda. He doesn't seem to fit that label. Hassan seems like a lone disturbed wack-job who happens to have been Muslim. But, it seems like he's just a plain ol' vanilla mass murderer (if there is such a thing). Not everyone who uses violence and terror is a "terrorist"--at least, by what I think we always intended "terrorist" to mean, or we will start to denude the value of the word "terrorist."

By the way, FoxNews (which gets ragged on all the time for its alleged "politics" in reporting the news) was one of the LAST news outlets to report the guy's name--for this exact reason. They had it and sat on it, and didn't release it until the Ft Hood spokesman confirmed it. They didn't want people freaking out at the utterance of a Arab surname and assuming that it was an act of terrorism.

[scrub-jay]

GMW - ITA.

From what they have found, although he was a devout muslim, he did not seem to have any involvement with known terrorist groups. Unfortunately, his family and other members of the muslim community are starting feeling the backlash from this. His immediate family has condemned his actions and sent their prayers for the victims and their families. IMHO he was a very disturbed individual - not a "terrorist". I am worried about the backlash from ignorant individuals.

[GrayMatterWife]

GMW - ITA.

From what they have found, although he was a devout muslim, he did not seem to have any involvement with known terrorist groups. Unfortunately, his family and other members of the muslim community are starting feeling the backlash from this. His immediate family has condemned his actions and sent their prayers for the victims and their families. IMHO he was a very disturbed individual - not a "terrorist". I am worried about the backlash from ignorant individuals.

Oh, man. Did you hear this guy's cousin interviewed last night? He seemed stunned, paralyzed, shocked, almost beyond words. I felt TERRIBLE for him. Having a mentally ill family member who hurts people is already devastating enough for a family...the sense of guilt, confusion, shame, frustration, etc. that they must go through. But then, to throw in the "terrorist" label...NOW they're "the family that produced that terrorist." Makes you wonder what John Walker Lindh's family went through.

[oceanchild]

NPR had a reporter talk to people at Walter Reed, where he did his residency. It sounded like nobody really liked him there, weren't sure what to make of him, etc.

Every time I hear one of these stories, I wonder how you decide whether someone you know is unstable or just weird. I'm sure the people who knew him are kicking themselves for choosing just weird.

[DCJenn]

I think it sort of becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You know, there are those people that you meet that you kind of think, 'wow, that dude is off.' and everyone picks up on it and those people by choice or by happenstance become even more socially isolated and it's a recipe for disaster.

I don't think he's any different than any other single mass murderer in history- the guy from Oklahoma City, etc. (also a former military person) who goes undiagnosed because the military does an exceptionally crappy job in dealing with mental health issues of it's personnel.

There is still such a huge stigma and this guy already WAS a psychiatrist and honestly, they are SO short-staffed in the Behavioral health areas...

It's really sad.

Jenn

[Thirteen]

I think it sort of becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You know, there are those people that you meet that you kind of think, 'wow, that dude is off.' and everyone picks up on it and those people by choice or by happenstance become even more socially isolated and it's a recipe for disaster.

I don't think he's any different than any other single mass murderer in history- the guy from Oklahoma City, etc. (also a former military person) who goes undiagnosed because the military does an exceptionally crappy job in dealing with mental health issues of it's personnel.

There is still such a huge stigma and this guy already WAS a psychiatrist and honestly, they are SO short-staffed in the Behavioral health areas...

It's really sad.

Jenn

Absolutely.
It's heartbreaking -- again, such brokenness on both sides.