UPDATE:Seven dead, 12 injured in Fort Hood shooting
by BDB
The Blotter
Seven dead, 12 injured in Fort Hood shooting
By AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF | Thursday, November 5, 2009, 02:30 PM
Seven people have been killed and another 12 are wounded in a mass shooting at Fort Hood in Killeen, a spokesperson said.
Greg Schannep, an aide to U.S. Rep. John Carter, said he was on the Army post to attend a graduation service. He said that as he neared the entrance of a building where the service was being held, a soldier with blood on his uniform ran past him and said a man was shooting.
Schannep said the shootings appeared to have occurred in a complex near a theater where the service was scheduled. He was with the injured soldier, who he said appeared to have been struck in the shoulder but did not have life-threatening injuries.
Todd Martin, assistant for communications at the Killeen school district, said the district has seven elementary schools and two middle schools on the post itself.
Those have been locked down since this began, Martin said. The other schools in the district outside the post have not been locked down, he said.
The district serves Killeen, Fort Hood, Harker Heights and Nolanville.
The elementary campuses, which typically releases between 2:45 and 3:15 p.m. had a two-hour early release day scheduled for today, so some students already had gone home. District administrators did not know how many of the students from the elementary schools were still on campus.
It is unclear how long the schools will remain on lockdown or when students will be able to go home.
Fort Hood is directing all of those operations, said Leslie Gilmore, public information officer for the district.
The schools on lock down are: Clark, Duncan, Meadows, Montague Village, Oveta Culp Hobby and Venable Village elementaries and Audie Murphy and Smith middle schools.
Copperas Cove schools, just west of the post, was holding buses for 15 minutes at a time and monitoring the situation, said Cathy Blake, assistant to the district superintendent.
According to MSNBC.com, one gunman was reportedly in custody and another was on the loose, NBC News said. A third shooter may be involved, according to NBC News affiliate KCEN.
The Statesman has three reporters headed to the scene as well as photographers. We are checking with area hospitals and schools.
Check back for more details.
If you have any information, e-mail editors@statesman.com.
For more information, click here.
Get the latest crime reports in your neighborhood with the Statesman's Crime Tracker.