FORT HOOD – AT 8:14 A.M. ET:  Again the name "Ford Hood" comes up.  This time, though, it looks less like a terrorist attack than the kind of assault by a mentally ill person that we see, over and over, in the civilian sector  From Fox:

A soldier suffering from "mental health issues" opened fire at Fort Hood Wednesday, killing three soldiers and injuring 16 before killing himself, a post Army general said.

Army Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the senior officer at the facility, also said at an evening news conference that there was no indication of terrorism, but added "we're not ruling anything out."

He said the shooter, identified earlier as Spc. Ivan Lopez, was armed with a .45 caliber Smith & Wesson and killed himself when confronted by military police in a parking lot.

Milley said he did not know any motive for the incident, but the shooter, who had served four months in combat in Iraq in 2011, had "behavioral and mental health issues" and was being treated for those.

COMMENT:  When will we finally realize that mental illness is a giant factor in many shootings, and yet it's often shoved in the background.  It isn't chic to mention mental illness, and significant mental-health information has usually been barred from background checks.

First thing I want to know is motive.  Second thing I want to know is how a man with behavioral and mental-health issues got hold of a .45.

April 3,  2014