Mass Shooting at Fort Hood Military Base Kills 12

If you have been watching or reading the news  tonight there has been a horrific report from a military processing center at Fort Hood Texas where a soldier has opened fire killing 11 people and leaving 31 wounded.  The soldier's name has been released as Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.  Hasan was the 12^th person to be killed in this tragedy when authorities had to use lethal force to end the on-going massacre.

It has been reported that Hasan was unhappy about his future deployment to Iraq but at this point no real motive has been assigned to his actions.

It may surprise many that Major Hasan was a licensed psychiatrist practicing at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood.

There is a great deal of speculation among the various news agencies about what motivated this man, an officer in the U.S. Army, a reported psychiatrist, to lose all human control and walk among his fellow soldiers with at least two 9mm handguns mercilessly killing his unarmed comrades. Right now, as we all wait to find out more facts we can join with grieving families in complete shock that their loved ones have died not in a foreign land, but on own their own soil at the hands of a fellow American soldier.

The words "senseless" and "tragic" come to mind when we hear of such a gruesome incident as the nation joins the loved ones of the victims to wonder why.  Why would someone do this?  We may never know as the gunman died with his reasons. 

This tragedy does highlight the need for greater vigilance to screen and treat soldiers, even psychiatrists, for stress related mental illness.  It is unclear at this time what might have been done to prevent such needless tragedy.  In the meantime the nation mourns.