Army officials had claimed on Thursday that the soldier who went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas on Wednesday showed no signs of him being a threat to himself or to others, The Washington Post said. 34 year-old Army Spec. Ivan Lopez was on a shooting rampage on Wednesday, killing three fellow soldiers and took his own life. The officials also said that Lopez was undergoing treatment for his depression and saw a psychiatrist last month.
Commanding general Lt General Mark Milley of Fort Hood officially identified Lopez as the gunman and had said that the latter had a medical history which indicated that he had an unstable psychological or psychiatric condition.
"We believe that to be the fundamental underlying causal factor. (there were) strong indications (that the immediate trigger for the shooting spree may have been) a verbal altercation with another soldier or soldiers. At this point we have not yet ruled out anything whatsoever. we have no indications at this time of any link to a terrorist organizations of any type, either national or international," Milley said.
Earlier, Army Secretary John McHugh claimed that Lopez was prescribed a number of drugs, which include sleep aid Ambien. Army officials reportedly did not detect signs that Lopez could resort to violence in the latter's full psychiatric evaluation done last month, McHugh disclosed to a Senate panel on Thursday.
"The plan forward was to just continue to monitor and treat him as deemed appropriate," McHugh added at that time.
Lopez, whom military and law enforcement officials have stated that he was a truck driver for the Army, pulled out .45 Smith & Wesson semiautomatic pistol Wednesday afternoon and was decked in standard-issue camouflage uniform when he opened fire in two different buildings in Fort Hood. Aside from the casualties, 16 soldiers were injured, with three in critical condition, The Post said.
