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The military has not released the names of those who were wounded or killed.
Lisa Pfund, the mother of a 19-year-old soldier, Amber Bahr, told a Milwaukee TV station that her daughter had been shot in the abdomen and was in stable condition. "We were on the phone. She said, 'Hi, Mommy, how you doing?' And all of a sudden, she said, 'I gotta go.' " The next call she received, Pfund said, was from an emergency room doctor.
Ft. Hood, which sprawls across 339 square miles of Central Texas Hill Country, is the world's largest military installation. Halfway between Waco and Austin, it supports two full armored divisions: the storied 1st Cavalry Division and the 4th Infantry Division. It is the largest single employer in Texas.
The base, home to nearly 70,000 people, was locked down for about six hours. Immediately after the shooting, base residents were told to lock their doors and windows and stay inside. Families used to being separated during long deployments were separated again in a situation that to many seemed surreal.
"My friend's husband called her from Iraq and said, 'Isn't it sad that I am safer over here in Iraq than you are at home?' " said Jessica Sullens, 28, a substitute teacher who had spent hours in a nearby Walmart parking lot, where she had dashed on an errand.
Her husband, Cpl. Thomas Sullens of the 404th Aviation Support Battalion, and their 1- and 2-year old daughters were locked down on the base -- he with his motor pool and the children with a neighbor.
"This is unreal to me," Sullens said. Her husband, she said, described the shooting as "a firefight."
At 7:14 p.m. Central time, she said, the emergency was lifted and traffic onto the base resumed. Sullens was stuck in a line of about 150 cars that moved slowly through security gates, trying to get home.
Base personnel have accounted for more suicides than any other Army post since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, with 75 tallied through this July. Nine of those suicides occurred in 2009, counting two in war zones.
Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff, has been leading an effort to reduce the number of Army suicides, which some have said is a result of long and repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Three of the four brigades of the 1st Calvary Division are in Iraq. The three brigades -- the first, second and third -- are on their third tour. The division's newest brigade, the fourth, has done two tours in Iraq, returning most recently in June.
Ft. Hood also is home to three of the brigades of the 4th Infantry Division. The fourth brigade is now in Afghanistan. The first brigade has done three tours in Iraq, returning most recently in March. The second brigade has also done three tours, returning most recently in September.
Ft. Hood residents were deeply shaken by Thursday's events, even more so because Hasan is a mental health professional.
"It scares me to death," Sullens said. "There was nothing they could have done to keep him off post because he belonged here. It's terrifying to think he's the one who is supposed to be making sure everyone is OK, and he himself is insane."
Today, Cone said, Ft. Hood will observe a day of mourning.
"We will move to normalcy as soon as possible."
robin.abcarian@latimes.com
ashley.powers@latimes.com
josh.meyer@latimes.com
Times staff writers Julian E. Barnes in Washington and Kate Linthicum in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Lisa Pfund, the mother of a 19-year-old soldier, Amber Bahr, told a Milwaukee TV station that her daughter had been shot in the abdomen and was in stable condition. "We were on the phone. She said, 'Hi, Mommy, how you doing?' And all of a sudden, she said, 'I gotta go.' " The next call she received, Pfund said, was from an emergency room doctor.
Ft. Hood, which sprawls across 339 square miles of Central Texas Hill Country, is the world's largest military installation. Halfway between Waco and Austin, it supports two full armored divisions: the storied 1st Cavalry Division and the 4th Infantry Division. It is the largest single employer in Texas.
The base, home to nearly 70,000 people, was locked down for about six hours. Immediately after the shooting, base residents were told to lock their doors and windows and stay inside. Families used to being separated during long deployments were separated again in a situation that to many seemed surreal.
"My friend's husband called her from Iraq and said, 'Isn't it sad that I am safer over here in Iraq than you are at home?' " said Jessica Sullens, 28, a substitute teacher who had spent hours in a nearby Walmart parking lot, where she had dashed on an errand.
Her husband, Cpl. Thomas Sullens of the 404th Aviation Support Battalion, and their 1- and 2-year old daughters were locked down on the base -- he with his motor pool and the children with a neighbor.
"This is unreal to me," Sullens said. Her husband, she said, described the shooting as "a firefight."
At 7:14 p.m. Central time, she said, the emergency was lifted and traffic onto the base resumed. Sullens was stuck in a line of about 150 cars that moved slowly through security gates, trying to get home.
Base personnel have accounted for more suicides than any other Army post since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, with 75 tallied through this July. Nine of those suicides occurred in 2009, counting two in war zones.
Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff, has been leading an effort to reduce the number of Army suicides, which some have said is a result of long and repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Three of the four brigades of the 1st Calvary Division are in Iraq. The three brigades -- the first, second and third -- are on their third tour. The division's newest brigade, the fourth, has done two tours in Iraq, returning most recently in June.
Ft. Hood also is home to three of the brigades of the 4th Infantry Division. The fourth brigade is now in Afghanistan. The first brigade has done three tours in Iraq, returning most recently in March. The second brigade has also done three tours, returning most recently in September.
Ft. Hood residents were deeply shaken by Thursday's events, even more so because Hasan is a mental health professional.
"It scares me to death," Sullens said. "There was nothing they could have done to keep him off post because he belonged here. It's terrifying to think he's the one who is supposed to be making sure everyone is OK, and he himself is insane."
Today, Cone said, Ft. Hood will observe a day of mourning.
"We will move to normalcy as soon as possible."
robin.abcarian@latimes.com
ashley.powers@latimes.com
josh.meyer@latimes.com
Times staff writers Julian E. Barnes in Washington and Kate Linthicum in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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