Shooting at Fort Hood

[Content Note: Guns; violence; death; disablism.]

There has been (another) shooting at Fort Hood:

A soldier who was being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder opened fire at Fort Hood on Wednesday, killing three people and wounding 16 before killing himself, the authorities said. The shooting set off a huge police response and shut down the sprawling Army base, the same facility where a deadly rampage by an officer resulted in 13 deaths in 2009.

Fort Hood's commanding general said the gunman, an Army specialist who had served in Iraq and was being treated for behavioral and mental health issues, had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The commander, Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley, told reporters that the soldier's motive remained unclear, but that the shooting did not appear to be related to terrorism.

My condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of everyone who was killed, to the survivors and their loved ones, and to the people whose lives are tied to Fort Hood, who will be deeply affected by this shooting. I hope they all have the resources and support they need.

* * *

Already, there is plenty of "lone crazy gunman" stuff surrounding the shooter, whose identity has not yet been confirmed. In this case, because the soldier was a combat veteran, who may have had a traumatic brain injury and was seeking a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis, there's even more impetus to blame this exclusively on him and his illness/injury, as if it happened in a vacuum.

But, three quick observations:

1. Even someone with PTSD doesn't act violently without reason. It's important to investigate what, if this was the result of a PTSD trigger, it was that triggered him.

2. It's also important to note that, if this was the result of a PTSD trigger and/or a traumatic brain injury, he was navigating one or both of these things as a result of being a combat veteran. That is context, as well as why he was a veteran—why he joined up; whether it was his only option; why he was in Iraq; what was the purpose of that war—that negates the "lone crazy gunman" bullshit.

3. To ignore these issues, in favor of "lone crazy gunman" narratives, is to deny how culture works. To deny its very existence.

People who are arguing for the fifth, tenth, twentieth time in the span of a few years the "lone crazy gunman" thing, and don't see that maybe there's a larger, connective problem—even if it's simply access to guns—are in denial of culture. And they've given up on prevention.