Fort Hood Tragedy

CNN is reporting 7 dead, 20 wounded at the army base in Fort Hood, Texas. Base is on lockdown, one shooter in custody, one cornered on the base. No ID on the shooter(s?) or the victims at this point.

More as it develops, as they say.

[UPDATE 3:55 PM] MSNBC has more:

KCEN reported that a policeman was among those shot.

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KCEN in Waco reported that the second suspect may be holed up in a building on the post.

Greg Schannep, an aide to U.S. Rep. John Carter, told the Austin American-Statesman that 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 told the newspaper that 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.

According to unconfirmed reports, one of the shooters was being surrounded by police in the 42006 building on Fort Hood. That source told KCEN the shooter has a high-powered rifle.

This is rapidly turning into one of those not good days.

[UPDATE 4:07 PM] Josh Marshall is hearing that both the victims and the assailants are all military.

[UPDATE 4:23 PM] What Atrios said:

When your first reaction to tragic events is to consider how they might support your politics, it's time to go for a nice long walk.

He's nicer than I am, looking over some of the other blogs chasing this story.

[UPDATE 4:52 PM] Nine dead now, four of the wounded were SWAT officers called in, both suspects are in custody.

[UPDATE 5:04 PM] 11 dead, including one of the now 3 gunmen, the other two in custody.

[UPDATE 5:18 PM] MSNBC is now reporting that 12 are dead, 31 injured, and all three gunmen were in fact U.S. soldiers. I'm not sure which is more depressing, that this was done to our soldiers or done by them.

[UPDATE 5:31 PM] ABC News is reporting one of the gunmen has been identified as a Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan. Here's where things get truly ugly.

[UPDATE 6:43 PM] Maj. Hasan was apparently an Army psychiatrist. Good lord. And on this day I find myself agreeing with all people, Larry Johnson.

The murder and wounding of more than forty soldiers is bad enough. If a cell of muslim extremists have infiltrated the U.S. Army then this is going to cause some major blow back throughout the military. Muslim officers and enlisted personnel will fall under suspicion. Most of this will be unfair and unwarranted. But human nature is what it is and the suspicion engendered by this kind of act will reverbrate for some time and probably hurt our ability to do a better job on winning hearts and minds overseas when there is such distrust in the ranks.

What the hell motivates an Army psychiatrist to go on a rampage like this?