Unstable mental health may be the “fundamental, underlying cause” of a US soldier’s shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that left four people dead, though an argument with another service member likely preceded the attack, investigators said.
A US army truck driver from Puerto Rico, army specialist Ivan Lopez was undergoing treatment for depression and anxiety while being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder, base officials said.
US Lieutenant General Mark Milley, commanding general at the US’ largest army base, said there was a “strong indication” that Lopez was involved in an argument shortly before the shooting, though it does not appear he targeted specific soldiers during the attack. Investigators are also focusing on his mental health.
Photo: EPA
“We have very strong evidence that he had a medical history that indicates unstable psychiatric or psychological condition,” Milley said. “We believe that to be a fundamental, underlying cause.”
“We’re going to keep an open mind and an open investigation,” US Army Secretary John McHugh said on Thursday in Washington, explaining that “possible extremist involvement is still being looked at very, very carefully.”
Lopez saw a psychiatrist last month and showed no “sign of any likely violence either to himself or others,” McHugh said.
Three of the wounded in Wednesday’s shooting remained in serious condition at Scott & White Memorial Hospital in nearby Temple.
Investigators searched Lopez’s home on Thursday and questioned his wife, who declined to comment in Spanish when reached by telephone by reporters.
Lopez bought the weapon he used in the attack at Guns Galore in Killeen — the same store, just off the base, where army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan purchased an FN 5-7 tactical pistol that he used to kill 13 people and wound more than 30 in a November 2009 shooting on the base.
After that shooting — the deadliest attack on a domestic military installation in US history — the US military tightened base security across the nation.
Lopez grew up in Guayanilla, a town of fewer than 10,000 people on the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico.
Lopez joined the island’s National Guard in 1999, and he served on a yearlong peacekeeping mission in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in the mid-2000s.
He enlisted with the army in 2008, and arrived at Fort Hood in February from Fort Bliss, another Texas army base.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS