MOSCOW, April 3 (RIA Novosti) - A soldier opened fire at the Fort Hood military base in Texas on Wednesday, killing four and wounding 16 before the soldier committed suicide. US military facilities have suffered a string of such incidents, often caused by the psychological effects on soldiers of America's overseas military campaigns.
2014
On April 3 a soldier opened fire at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. Four people died and 16 were injured in the shooting, before the shooter committed suicide. All the victims were servicemen. According to Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the commander of Fort Hood, the shooter was a soldier who served in Iraq in 2011 and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as "Iraq syndrome."
2013
On October 24, a quarrel between three National Guard servicemen led to a shooting at a naval base in Tennessee. In the heat of the debate, one of the soldiers pulled a gun and opened fire on several others. Two people were wounded. The base was closed following the incident and the shooter was arrested.
On September 16, 34-year-old Aaron Alexis, who had been fired from the US Navy for improper conduct, opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard. Twelve people were killed and eight more injured. Alexis was killed in the subsequent gunfight with police. According to the FBI, he worked for a private contractor with the US Navy and had legal access to the Navy Yard's building. The shooter believed that he was being controlled or influenced by extremely low frequency electromagnetic waves.
On June 11, a retired American soldier opening fire at the Fort Sam Houston base in San Antonio, Texas. A woman was hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
Local authorities later announced that the shooter and the victim had a romantic relationship and were having an argument when the shots were fired. The shooter turned himself into the police and was detained.
On April 3 gunshots were heard at the largest US military base, Fort Knox in Kentucky. The incident took place not far from the human resources department, where nearly four thousand people were working. A civilian was killed in the shooting.
Late on March 22 a former marine opened fire at the Quantico Marine Base in Virginia. Two servicemen were killed. The shooter barricaded himself in the barracks and committed suicide.
2012
On June 28 during construction work on Fort Bragg in North Carolina, a soldier shot and killed a superior officer. The incident took place during the general gathering of the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade. According to witnesses, the soldier pulled out a gun, killed the brigade major and then shot himself.
2010
In the early morning of October 19 guards heard several gunshots near the southern parking lot of the Pentagon, Virginia. Bullet holes were later discovered in two windows. Two days before the incident ten bullets were fired at the National Museum of the Marine Corps building, in the Washington area. On October 25, there was a shooting near a Marine Corps commissary in the town of Chantilly near Washington. In all three cases there were no injuries.
On September 20, a man opened fire at the Fort Bliss base in Texas injuring two women. The shooter was killed by police officers.
2009
On November 5, military psychiatrist Nidal Hasan shot and killed 13 people and wounded 40 at the Fort Hood base in Texas. Hasan was charged with 13 counts of first-degree murder and 32 counts of assault with intent to kill.
Hasan's trial began in August last year. He defended himself and clashed with state attorneys, who claimed he deliberately aimed to kill his targets. Hasan said he committed the slaughter because of his religious beliefs - as a Muslim he considered the war in Afghanistan morally reprehensible. The shooting happened not long before Hasan's division had to deploy to Afghanistan. On Aug. 28, 2013, Hasan was sentenced to death.
