On Wednesday, April 2, 2014, gunshots from a mass shooting sounded at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas for the second time in five years. Three soldiers were killed and 16 were injured.
Less than a day later, The New York Times ran an article online titled "Soldier's attack at Fort Hood echoed rampage in 2009" that compared this shooting, carried out by Iraq veteran Specialist Ivan Lopez, 34, to the 2009 shooting carried out by Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan, 39, that killed 13 and wounded 30. The Times reported that both men used their personal firearms that had been purchased at the same shop near the base. Both wore their uniforms and began shooting in a medical area. Both shooting rampages ended when the shooter committed suicide after coming into contact with a female police officer.
But there is a major difference between the 2009 and 2014 shootings. Hasan was connected to a terrorist organization; Lopez was an otherwise good soldier who suffered from anxiety and depression, and who was being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after his August to December 2011 deployment in Iraq.
Less than 48 hours after the shooting, this editorial board's hearts go out to everyone affected by the Fort Hood shooting. Our minds ask questions.
First, we would like to know how Lopez was able to get a gun onto the base. According to the New York Times article, "personnel are not allowed to carry concealed weapons on military bases." Yet, the same article quotes Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley, the base commander at Fort Hood, saying that individual searches are not conducted: "We've got a population well over 100,000 here. It would not be realistic to do a pat-down search on every single soldier and employee on Fort Hood for a weapon on a daily basis."
There may be some merit to Milley's claim, but Lopez suffered from mental illness, and Fort Hood medical personnel knew that. This editorial board cannot help but think searches of potentially mentally unstable soldiers should be a doable and good idea. Investigators have, after all, determined Lopez's mental illness probably triggered the tragedy.
Despite his mental problems, however, CNN reported in an online article titled "Fort Hood shooting: Psychiatric issues 'fundamental underlying causal factor" that, according to Army Secretary John McHugh, Lopez showed no signs that he was likely to commit any acts of violence in a psychiatric evaluation last month.
The same article says that at the time of the shooting, Lopez had not been diagnosed with PTSD and that, although PTSD is common with veterans, diagnoses take time. But how much time?
Lopez returned from Iraq in December 2011. It is now April 2014. Psychiatrists have had nearly two and a half years to determine whether Lopez had PTSD and to treat him. While this editorial board does not claim to know about PTSD or the diagnosis process, two and half years seems excessive.
While it would be easy to take the 2014 Fort Hood shooting and make it about gun violence and gun legislation, we wonder if that is really the conversation this tragedy should spark. Perhaps it would be better, instead, to look at mental illness and PTSD in our armed forces. Perhaps it would be more constructive to tackle an issue that affects our military personnel in a more personal way than guns. If psychiatrists can diagnose and treat mental illnesses like PTSD faster, maybe future shootings can be prevented.