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When Army Spec. Ivan Lopez went on the shooting rampage Wednesday at Ft. Hood, Texas, killing three soldiers and injuring 16 others, he had just learned that superiors in Washington had rejected his request to take a temporary leave to deal with family matters related to his mother’s death, a federal law enforcement official said. Officials had turned down an earlier leave request and Lopez was attempting to renew it, said the official, speaking anonymously because the investigation is ongoing. The rejection, delivered Wednesday, set him off, the official said. “He had put in for something regarding his mother's death...

In the aftermath of the mass shootings in Aurora, Colo.; Newtown, Conn.; Tucson, Ariz.; Virginia Tech; the Washington Navy Yard; and sadly, other locales, conventional wisdom held that the epidemic of mass shootings was a problem of gun control. I wrote columns attempting to draw attention to the mental health system in America that so wrongheadedly fails to treat the dangerous mentally ill. Now, at last, the mental health angle on mass shootings has become conventional wisdom -- just in time, perhaps, to be wrong again. "Fort Hood shooter had mental problems" headlined USA Today. "Fort Hood shooter was Iraq...

<p>The spree began in one building of the sprawling complex, where Lopez, who was 34, first pulled his .45-caliber Caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and killed one, injuring 10.</p> <p>"The deceased and one of wounded had been involved in the verbal altercation with subject," Grey said.</p>

<p>Spc. Ivan Lopez vented about a range of subjects on Facebook before his shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas, including his outrage at Adam Lanza's mass school shooting in Connecticut.</p> <p>He wrote of experiencing overpowering fear after an insurgent attack in Iraq and the hatred that consumed him after getting "robbed."</p>

And, I do have a sensitivity toward people in the military as well as civilians who have developed some sort of "nervous condition." I was medevaced out of Vietnam after 16 months there while serving  in the Marine Corps. At that time, if an enlistee even looked cross-eyed at a superior officer, or showed any sort of deviance - they would be "quickly and efficiently" jailed, hospitalized, or just booted out of the military. IOW soldiers like the most recent Fort Hood killer Ivan Lopez would have stuck out like a sore thumb in yesterday's military, but not in...

News of yesterday's murders and rampage at Ft. Hood began to surface just as my national radio show was beginning. The first segment of the program was with Senator Marco Rubio --itself a newsmaker-- was wrapping up as first reports of an "active shooter at Ft. Hood" appeared on Twitter. The second segment, about DOD's budget with Robert O'Brien of Arent Fox included two references that a story was developing and O'Brien, a veteran of media firestorms from years at the U.N. and an experienced litigator, was careful to note the number one concern was for the victims and their...

Fort Hood shooter was taking "prescription drugs for depression and anxiety". SSRIs? "Lopez was undergoing a variety of treatments for conditions including depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances, McHugh said. He was prescribed drugs that included Ambien, a sleep aid. Lopez was fully examined last month by a psychiatrist. There was no record of any sign he was likely to commit violence against himself or others, according to McHugh. "So the plan (going) forward was just to continue to monitor and treat him as deemed appropriate," he said." They say that he was "prescribed drugs" but only named one, Ambien, which...

Military families shouldn't have to fear for their lives here at home -- especially on a major U.S. Army base. But just yesterday, another horrific mass shooting rocked the community of Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. This is the second mass shooting at Fort Hood in five years. Our thoughts and prayers are with the community and with the families of those who were killed and wounded. Please send your personal message of support, and we'll make sure it is delivered to the families affected by the Fort Hood shooting. In the days ahead, we'll learn the details of this...

President Barack Obama is in Chicago this evening for two fundraising events. The White House issued a statement saying Obama has been informed of the shootings at Fort Hood and will be kept apprised. There is no mention in the reports of Obama cancelling the fundraisers as soldiers under his command are under attack on American soil. From Politico at 6:55 p.m. EDT (which doesn’t mention Obama is fundraising in Chicago): “President Barack Obama has been informed of the shooting that occurred Wednesday at Fort Hood army base in Texas, according to the pool report. ““The President has been informed...

On Wednesday evening, President Obama was being kept up to date on the developments from the mass shooting at Fort Hood while reportedly attending fundraisers for the 2014 election cycle. According to White House spokesman Josh Earnest, Obama is in the loop while at the fundraisers. Obama will be in Chicago for four and a half hours, and the events have largely been closed to the media, with radio and TV reporters banned from attendance. Only one print reporter will be allowed to provide press pool notes

There have now been 4 people confirmed dead after the second shooting at Fort Hood in five years. Pentagon sources tell CBS News that the Fort Hood shooter is a soldier — identified as 34-year-old Ivan Lopez — and that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. CBS News reports that the shooting stemmed from a soldier dispute. According to Fox News 14 people were wounded with injuries ranging from stable to very critical. The shooting reportedly started between 4:25 and 4:30 central time and for several hours Fort Hood was in lockdown, and the nation didn't know the number...

FORT HOOD, Texas - A soldier opened fire Wednesday at Fort Hood, killing three people and wounding several others before taking his own life, law enforcement sources told CBS News. The incident occurred Wednesday afternoon at Fort Hood, the site of a notorious 2009 mass shooting. Law enforcement sources said four people were killed, including the gunman, who died of a self-inflicted wound. Officials said several people were wounded, although the exact number was not immediately clear. At one point there were reports that as many as 14 people had been wounded. Sources told CBS News the shooter had been...

(CNN) -- A suspected shooter at Fort Hood, Texas, is dead, but the situation is still considered an active scene, multiple U.S. officials told CNN on Wednesday. "There has been a shooting at Fort Hood and injuries are reported. Emergency crews are on the scene. No further details are known at this time," the Army post said in an evening statement. Fort Hood's official Twitter feed asked that all personnel on post shelter in place. Sirens were going off. President Barack Obama has been briefed on the incident and will continue to receive updates, according to a White House press...

Eight people have been injured, four critically, after a shooting at the Fort Hood Army post Wednesday afternoon, officials said. The shooter is dead and the Texas post remains on lockdown. Officials are still searching and clearing buildings at the post, but a military official told NBC News that the deceased shooter appears to be the only shooter.

Shooter at Fort Hood name is Ivan Lopez

Text of President Barack Obama's remarks at a Chicago restaurant about Wednesday's shooting incident at Ford Hood, Texas: ——— I just got off the phone with Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Sandy Winnefeld to get the latest report on the situation at Fort Hood. Obviously, we're following it closely. The situation is fluid right now, but my national security team is in close contact with not just the Defense Department, but the FBI. They are working with folks on the ground to determine exactly what happened, to make sure that everybody is secure. And I want to...

Didn't see this posted...

The accused Fort Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, began his court-martial Tuesday admitting he's guilty. "The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter," said Hasan, who faces 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder for those he wounded. But because this is a death penalty case, the Army won't allow Hasan to plead guilty. Hasan, an American-born Muslim, also described himself as mujahedeen. Witnesses say that he yelled "Allahu akbar" ("God is great") as he opened fire on a roomful of unarmed service members. Hope the Pentagon was listening. To date, the Department...

If you go to the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, you will see a moving tableau, a series of statues of the brave young Americans who stormed ashore on June 6, 1944 to liberate a continent from the grip of Adolf Hitler. One of these statues is called “Death on the Shore.” It shows a soldier who was cut down as he left his landing craft. His Bible is seen falling out of his rucksack. That Bible included an endorsement from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The body of this young man, one of the many from the little Southwest Virginia...

The Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly 2009 Fort Hood attack wants to represent himself at his upcoming murder trial, which means he could question the nearly three dozen soldiers he’s accused of wounding in the shooting rampage. Maj. Nidal Hasan’s request, announced Wednesday by Fort Hood officials, is to be considered at a pretrial hearing next week. The request prompted the military judge, Col. Tara Osborn, to delay jury selection to June 5, about a week after it was scheduled to start. Hasan, an American-born Muslim, faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted of...