Tragedy at Ft. Hood

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There are three suspects, one dead gunman and two others in custody. All three suspects are U.S. soldiers. The tally so far: 12 dead, 31 wounded–also U.S. military personnel. Shortly after 5 p.m., President Obama made these comments:

There has been a tragic shooting at the Ft. Hood army base in Texas. . . . What we do know is that a number of American soldiers have been killed and even more have been wounded in a horrific outburst of violence. . . . It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil. . . . We are working with the Pentagon, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. . . . I would ask all Americans to keep the men and women of Ft. Hood in your thoughts and prayers. We will make sure that we get answers to every single question. . . . We are going to stay on this.

The Associated Press initially reported on the events like this:

The first shooting began at about 1:30 p.m. at a personnel and medical processing office, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Nathan Banks said. The facility, called a Soldier Rating and Processing center, handles administrative details for soldiers.

Banks says the second shooting took place at a theater on the sprawling base. Sgt. Rebekah Lampam, a spokeswoman at Fort Hood, said it was not known whether the shooters were soldiers or civilians. An Army spokesman said the base was locked down after the shootings. . . .

At the Soldier Readiness Center, soldiers who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening — on average about 300-400 screened a day, Lampam said. Lampam said a graduation ceremony for soldiers who finished college courses while deployed was going on in the auditorium at the time of the shooting.

For more information, The Austin American-Statesman has updates by Twitter and blog.