Ivan Lopez Identified In Fort Hood Shooting Suffered From Mental Issues

Ivan Lopez is the man identified as the latest Fort Hood Shooter, following a rampage yesterday in which three people were killed and 16 more injured. Lopez shot himself after carrying out the shootings.

The shooter, aged just 34, was married, and had children who were near to the base at the time of the incident. He had been transferred to Fort Hood in February, and was undergoing treatment for mental health issues.

Gen. Mark A. Milley, the post’s commanding general, said that Ivan Lopez suffered from depression, anxiety and other psychiatric complaints: “He was not diagnosed, as of today, with PTSD,” he said.

Lopez had served with the U.S. Army in Iraq for a four month period in 2011. Even though he wasn’t wounded he reported that he had sustained a traumatic brain injury. Lopez purchased a.45 caliber Smith and Wesson semiautomatic pistol and concealed it in advance of the shooting.

It has now been revealed that Lopez worked in Fort Hood’s transportation segment, and the building where he started his shooting spree was the base’s transportation administration. He then got in his car and drove to another building, continuing the killing.

When Lopez was confronted by a female military police officer in a parking lot he pulled his weapon on himself, administering a single shot to the head which killed him. It’s unclear what the motive behind the latest Fort Hood shooting was but officials say that terrorism has not been ruled out as a possibility.

Gen. Miley shed some light on the issue to reporters, confirming that authorities are having a good look into Ivan Lopez’s background: “There are initial reports there may have been an argument in one of the unit areas. Obviously, we are digging deep into his background, any criminal or psychiatric history, his experiences in combat. All of the things you would expect us to do are being done right now.”

Considering that this is not the first shooting of its type at Fort Hood, there will obviously be an investigation about the security aspects of the base. But, it’s difficult to see how such events can ever be prevented, given the size of the base and the number of people on it.