This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fort-hood-shooter-described-as-introverted-musical/2014/04/03/4a93e778-bb5d-11e3-9a05-c739f29ccb08_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Fort Hood shooter described as introverted, musical Fort Hood shooter described as introverted, musical
(about 4 hours later)
Army Specialist Ivan Lopez, the soldier suspected in a deadly shooting rampage at Fort Hood, is a father of four children and a former police officer who served 10 years on the force in his native Puerto Rico before taking leave to join the Army. Army Spec. Ivan A. Lopez — who killed three people and wounded 16 others in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood — was a father of four
Lopez, 34, is now believed to be the gunman who killed three and wounded many others at the sprawling Army post in central Texas. The spree only ended, authorities said, when Lopez was confronted by a female military police officer. He put his hands up, then pulled a handgun and killed himself with a shot to the head. and had spent 10 years as a police officer in his native Puerto Rico before he joined the Army.
On Thursday, both investigators and Lopez’s own family were struggling to understand what had driven him to such a violent and destructive end. The shooting spree at the sprawling Army post in central Texas ended about four minutes after it began, authorities said, when Lopez, 34, was confronted by a military police officer. The officer opened fire, officials said, and Lopez killed himself with a shot to the head.
Friends described Lopez as introverted and quiet, a talented percussionist from a musical family. He had joined the Puerto Rican police force as a young man, in part to join the police department’s band. The department was still expecting him to return to police work after spending four years in the Army. On Thursday — even with the awful clarity of hindsight — investigators and Lopez’s friends were struggling to identify the clues that everyone had missed.
At Fort Hood, officials saw Lopez as a “low-risk” soldier whose behavior raised no obvious red flags. He had married for a second time and lived with his wife and a young daughter in an apartment near the base. Friends recalled Lopez as a father, a devoted son and a talented percussionist who had joined Puerto Rico’s police force in part because he wanted to play in the police department band. He had been crushed by his mother’s unexpected death last fall, but afterward had returned to his Army career at a new base.
Lopez had troubles. He had returned from a short tour in Iraq and shifted from one base to another in the U.S. He was taking medications to help with depression and anxiety. He had been crushed by his mother’s sudden death last year and was unhappy that the Army had given him so little time off to grieve. Army officials said that Lopez, a truck driver who had served one short tour in Iraq, had been prescribed drugs meant to alleviate depression, anxiety and insomnia. But they said he had received a full psychiatric evaluation just a month ago.
But, apparently, nobody except Lopez himself saw what it was all adding up to. That review did not find “any sign of likely violence, either to himself or to others,” Army Secretary John M. McHugh told a Senate panel Thursday. “The plan forward was to just continue to monitor and treat him as deemed appropriate,” he added.
“They are going through an incredibly difficult period,” said Glidden Lopez, 26, a friend speaking on behalf of Ivan Lopez’s family in Puerto Rico. On Thursday, investigators said there were reports that Lopez had argued with another soldier before the shooting.
Investigators are still trying to learn more about the motives for Wednesday’s rampage. At this point, Lopez seems very different from the gunman in two other shooting sprees on military posts. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, had communicated with al-Qaeda leaders overseas. Aaron Alexis, the civilian contractor who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard last year, was a loner with a history of bizarre outbursts. Still, one day into the investigation, Lopez seems different from the gunmen involved in two other shooting sprees on military posts. Army Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, had communicated with al-Qaeda leaders overseas. Aaron Alexis, the civilian contractor who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard last year, was a loner with a history of bizarre outbursts.
Lopez had no apparent connections to terrorism. And, at least on the surface, he was not a man apart. Lopez posted photos of himself and his children at an amusement park on Facebook. When he posted a picture of himself in uniform last year, 55 people “liked” it. Lopez had no apparent connections to terrorism, officials said. And — at least on the surface — he was not a man apart. He posted photos on Facebook of himself and his children at an amusement park. When he posted a picture of himself in uniform last year, 55 people “liked” it.
“Oh my God. . . . I can’t believe it,” said Phanie Somar, a friend of Lopez and his wife from their time in El Paso. Until a reporter called on Thursday, Somar did not know Lopez was involved in the Fort Hood attacks. “He’s very friendly, too. He’s sweet.” “Oh my God. . . . I can’t believe it,” said Phanie Somar, a friend of Lopez and his wife from their time at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Tex. Until a reporter called on Thursday, Somar did not know Lopez was involved in the Fort Hood attacks. “He’s very friendly, too. He’s sweet.”
Lopez grew up in Guayanilla, a small town on Puerto Rico’s southwest coast. The town’s current mayor, Edgardo Arlequín, was the director of a local band for schoolchildren when Lopez joined. That was about 1990, the year Lopez turned 11. Lopez was a native of Guayanilla, a city of 21,000 on Puerto Rico’s southwest coast. He came from a musical family: His father and brother played during Mass at the Catholic church they attended. Ivan Lopez followed the tradition. He spent nearly all of his life playing music — and most of his adult life doing so in uniform.
The mayor said that Lopez came from a musical family; his father and brother both played guitars in the local Catholic church. “Ivan was quiet . . . introverted, calm,” said Edgardo Arlequin, Guayanilla’s mayor and the director of a youth band that Lopez joined when he was about 11. Arlequin said that in the many years he taught Lopez, he had not seen him show anger toward another student. “Never. Never. I never saw him get in a fight.”
“Ivan was quiet . . . introverted, calm,” Arlequín said in Spanish in a telephone interview. He said he knew Lopez for several years and had never seen him show anger with another student. “Never. Never. I never saw him get in a fight.” Lopez joined the National Guard of Puerto Rico in 1999, when he was about 20. He played in the guard’s band, according to military records, and served a year on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, where U.S. troops serve in a multinational peacekeeping force that acts as a guarantor of a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
What stood out, Arlequín said, was Lopez’s talent as a musician: He was a percussionist, and a very fast learner. When Lopez left Guayanilla, Arlequín said, he had “become an excellent human being.” In 2000, he joined Puerto Rico’s police force and eventually its official band.
In 2000, around age 21, Lopez joined the island’s main police force. On Thursday, Puerto Rican police officials said they were still trying to find detailed records of his career. They said it was likely that Lopez began as a patrol officer. Lopez would have spent much of his time practicing and performing, said Officer Angel Miriani, a spokesman for the police force. But, he said, the members of the band are still police officers, and they can be called out to reinforce units on other parts of the island.
Then, at some point, he joined the police force’s band. As a member of the band, Lopez would have spent much of his time practicing and performing, said Officer Angel Miriani, a spokesman for the police force. But, Miriani said, the members of the band are still police officers, and they can be called out to reinforce units in other parts of the island. “The record is clean,” Miriani said Thursday, referring to Lopez’s disciplinary files.
“The record is clean,” Miriani said Thursday, talking about Lopez’s disciplinary files. “We looked for disciplinary problems, and all show up clean.” In 2010, Lopez took a leave from the police force and entered the U.S. Army as an active-duty soldier. The force expected him to rejoin when his Army service ended.
In 2010, police said, Lopez joined the U.S. Army, and took a leave from the police. When he entered the military, Lopez was a divorced father of two young children, who both remained in Puerto Rico. The rest of his immediate family — including his mother, a sister and a brother — were in Puerto Rico as well.
When he entered the military, Lopez was a divorced father of two young children, who both remained in Puerto Rico. All the rest of his immediate family, including a sister, brother and mother, were in Puerto Rico as well. While stationed at Fort Bliss, Lopez met a woman named Karla — a student at El Paso Community College. Somar, a friend from that time, said Lopez and Karla met at a nightclub.
While stationed in Fort Bliss in West Texas, Lopez met a woman named Karla, a pretty, dark-haired El Paso Community College student, in a nightclub. Lopez and Karla began dating exclusively, said Somar, their friend from that time. The couple got married four months later, Somar said, in June 2010. That was soon after Karla found out she was pregnant.
The couple got married four months later, Somar said, in June 2010. That was soon after Karla learned she was pregnant. Karla, originally from Durango, Mexico, dropped out of school and gave up her architecture studies to take care of their new baby, Angelique Marie, Somar said. Family members in Puerto Rico said that Lopez now has another child in the United States.
Karla, originally from Durango, Mexico, dropped out of school and gave up her architecture studies to take care of their new baby, Angelique Marie, Somar said. When Lopez was moving to another assignment on another base and leaving Fort Bliss, Somar said, Karla and their baby, whom they call Angie Marie, moved in temporarily with her parents outside El Paso. Family members in Puerto Rico said that Lopez now has another child in the United States, for a total of four. Lopez then went through a series of moves, which friends said separated him from his family at times and left him stressed. In 2011, he spent five months in Iraq, serving as an infantryman. Military officials said there is no indication that he was injured in combat during that tour. He received a campaign medal for his service in Iraq.
In 2011, Lopez spent four months in Iraq, serving as an infantryman. Military officials say there is no indication that he was injured in combat during that tour. After returning to Fort Bliss, Lopez was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, in Missouri, to train to be a truck driver. A military source said Thursday that Lopez was transferred from the infantry to truck driving because of a medical problem: He had plantar fasciitis, a painful foot ailment. Lopez seemed upbeat and grateful for the change.
Last October, after Lopez had returned to Fort Bliss, Lopez’s mother died suddenly in Puerto Rico. Glidden Lopez, the family spokesperson, said that Ivan Lopez had remained close with his parents, calling them regularly. In February, he was transferred to Fort Hood. At times when he was away, Karla and their baby — called Angie Marie — moved in temporarily with her parents outside El Paso.
He returned to Puerto Rico for the funeral, but only briefly. A military official familiar with his leave said Lopez was granted emergency leave for his mother’s funeral, and the Army also agreed to let him delay his truck-driver training at Missouri’s Fort Leonard Wood from October until November to accommodate his trip. Last November, Lopez’s mother died unexpectedly in Puerto Rico. Glidden Lopez, a friend who is serving as a family spokesperson, said that Lopez had remained close with his parents, calling them regularly.
To friends, Lopez seemed deeply affected by his mother’s deal, and complained about the Army’s handling of his leave. After his mother died, Lopez returned to Puerto Rico for the funeral.
“It was a difficult process for him to get leave to come home,” Glidden Lopez said. To friends, Lopez seemed deeply affected by his mother’s death, and he said the Army had granted him too little leave time.
In February, Ivan Lopez was transferred to Fort Hood, in central Texas. He was assigned to the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) as a truck driver. Friends said that his family joined him in March. By this year, Lopez was under a doctor’s care, having been prescribed medication. The drugs included Ambien, a sleep aid, the Army secretary said Thursday. He also was being examined for post-traumatic stress disorder.
During a Congressional hearing Thursday, Army Secretary John M. McHugh said the gunman — he did not use Lopez’s name — had been prescribed “a number of drugs,” including Ambien, a sleep aid. After giving the soldier a full psychiatric evaluation last month, Army officials detected no indications “that there was any sign of likely violence, either to himself or to others,” McHugh told a Senate panel Thursday. In March, he had the evaluation that determined he was not contemplating violence. That same month, his family moved in with him near Fort Hood. But despite the reunion, something may have been wrong.
“The plan forward was to just continue to monitor and treat him as deemed appropriate,” McHugh added. On March 1, Lopez walked into a gun store near the base and bought the .45-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol he used in the rampage.
Julie Tate, Alice Crites and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.