Obama: Flags at half-staff for Ft. Hood victims

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The president today ordered flags flown at half-staff until Veterans Day in respect for the 13 killed and 30 wounded in a shooting rampage at Ft. Hood, Texas.

“We don’t know all the answers yet, and I would caution jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts,’’ President Obama said in a Rose Garden appearance.

The lowering of flags will be “a modest tribute to those who lost their lives even as others were preparing to risk their lives for their country,’’ Obama said of “one of the worst mass shootings ever to take place’’ on a U.S. military base.

Obama met with FBI Director Robert Mueller and other officials this morning and said, “As we continue to learn more about what happened at Ft. Hood, we will continue to provide you updates.’’

The president plans this afternoon to visit Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where the Army-trained psychologist accused of the shootings at Ft. Hood worked for six years before assignment to Texas. The White House says the visit to the Army hospital was planned before the shootings.

Obama plans to travel to Texas for memorial services when they are scheduled next week.

The memorial service will be scheduled for the convenience of the families, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said today, and the president will adjust his schedule around that to attend. The president is scheduled to leave for an annual summit of Pacific-rim nations in Asia on Nov. 11.

-- Mark Silva and Christi Parsons

Photo: The American flag over the White House flies at half staff in remembrance of the victims of the shooting at Ft. Hood, Texas. Credit: Getty Images.