What Happened at Fort Hood? [Updated]

Four are dead and more wounded at Fort Hood, in what first seemed to be a stunning echo of Major Nidal Hasan’s 2009 terrorist attack. Suspicions were heightened by yesterday’s news story to the effect that the FBI was hunting a jihadist named Muhammad Abdullah Hassan who was planning a “Fort Hood-inspired” attack.

Early reports indicate, however, that this episode was not a terrorist attack. The shooter reportedly was Spc. Ivan Lopez, who was based at Ft. Hood. Ironically, this incident–based on what has been reported so far–may have been a case of “workplace violence.”

Barack Obama is on the case:

President Obama said the U.S. government will get to the bottom of what happened in the shooting….

If it was not, in fact, a jihadist attack, the administration will no doubt be more willing to delve into the details.

UPDATE: One more thing–the idea of a lone gunman attacking a military base is intrinsically absurd. After the Hasan shootings, we learned that soldiers are generally prohibited from carrying weapons on bases. To my knowledge, those regulations have not been changed. Maybe it is time that we let our military personnel arm themselves so that they can mount a quicker and more effective response than dialing 911 and “sheltering in place.”

FURTHER UPDATE: Apparently three people were murdered; the fourth decedent was the perpetrator, reportedly by suicide.

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