(photo by broken thoughts)

(photo by broken thoughts)

[UPDATE: 12 dead, 31 wounded. One confirmed shooter killed at the scene shot at the scene BUT NOW CONFIRMED ALIVE AND OUT OF SURGERY. Two other suspects in custody (now released). More below.]

Multiple sources are now reporting a shooting at Fort Hood Army base, near Killeen, TX. Seven are confirmed dead, and twelve (update: 20 wounded) others are reported wounded.

Olga Peña from the Killeen Daily Herald was on the scene. Interviewed by phone on MSNBC, Peña said shootings started in a barracks. Other reports had the shootings start at a base PX, but that might just be where one suspect wound up (update below says shooting was at “Soldier’s Readiness Processing Center“). Local news saying that there were either two or three suspects. One is in custody, one is believed holed up in a building at the base; whereabouts of a possible third shooter are not known. (The existence of a third shooter is not consistent with all reports). Live report on MSNBC now confirms a third shooter.

The base is on lockdown.

This story is developing. Speculation is rampant. We will try to keep it basic, here, until other information is confirmed.

Fort Hood is the largest military base in the world. Over 50,000 active service personnel are currently stationed there.

This is not the first shooting at Fort Hood this year. In July, one soldier recently back from Iraq shot and killed another from the same company:

Fort Hood Spc. Armando Ray Baca remained in custody Monday evening after a weekend shooting at a Fort Hood housing area that claimed the life of Spc. Ryan Richard Schlack, 30, of Oshkosh, Wis.

Both Baca and Schlack were assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division’s B Company, 27th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team and both returned to post in May after deploying to Iraq in June 2008.

UPDATE: TV reports have one suspect in his late 30s. Though all three suspects are reported to have been wearing “fatigues,” no one can confirm that the shooters were active military. Shootings are reported to have taken place in three locations.

UPDATE 2: TX Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison tells MSNBC one shooter was wounded and is now in custody. One other is not. Shooting, according to her, took place in a processing center preparing troops on their way to Iraq. The Senator was briefed by a base General who believes there were around 30 wounded.

UPDATE 3: US Army reports that shooting happened in “Soldier’s Readiness Processing Center” and the “Houze Theatre.”

UPDATE 4: KCEN TV reports that 500 soldiers are sweeping across Fort Hood. Killeen police are also surrounding the base. Fort Hood officials expected to brief the press shortly. TX Gov. Perry has scheduled a press conference for 5pm EST (not sure if that is EST or TX time).

Local TV reports that two suspects are now in custody (but, honestly, I am not sure how they are confirming that).

UPDATE 5: NBC’s Pete WIlliams is reporting that the one shooter confirmed apprehended was an “officer” on base. CNN is reporting 9 dead.

UPDATE 6: Olga Peña (Killeen Daily Herald)  is reporting that shooter in custody is a 40 year old male. MSNBC refers to him as an “Army Major.”

UPDATE 7: Army spokesman confirms 12 dead. All casualties took place during the initial shooting at the Soldier Readiness facility. All were US military personnel. The one confirmed shooter was shot and killed by military personnel on the scene. Two other suspects in custody. One police officer also now reported dead, according to Army spokesman.

UPDATE 8: President Barack Obama expressed his sympathies during a pre-scheduled appearance at the Tribal Nations Conference.

UPDATE 9: ABC reports alleged shooter’s name:

The suspected gunman was identified by ABC News as Major Malik Nadal Hasan.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, told Fox News that military sources informed her that the gunman was about to be deployed to Iraq.

The shooter was killed and two other suspects, who are also soldiers, have been apprehended, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone said.

The general said there were “eyewitness accounts of more than one shooter,” and the others were tracked to an adjacent facility.

Update 10: CNN also reports alleged shooter was Major Malik Hasan, and that the 12 dead includes the Major. MSNBC reporting that Maj. Hasan was due to be deployed to Iraq.

Related posts:

  1. Breaking: Fort Hood Alleged Shooter Now Confirmed Alive
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  3. Fort Hood Shooter’s Trial May Shed Light on NSA/CIA Domestic Spying
  4. Lieberman’s Hunt for a Lone Wolf: Will Fort Hood Shootings be Used to Expand PATRIOT Surveillance?
  5. Wherein Lies the Fort Hood Intel Failure? Connecting Nidal Hasan’s Dots