Originally published April 3 2014
Ford Hood shooter was on psych meds, just like nearly all other mass shooters
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) Another mass shooting in the United States has occurred -- once more at the Fort Hood, Texas, Army base -- and as reports still filter in, one thing has become clear: The shooter, identified as 34-year-old Army Spc. Ivan Lopez, an Iraq veteran, was taking dangerous mind-altering psych meds, like most other mass killers in recent years.
According to various reports, Ivan, who served in Iraq in 2011, killed three people and wounded 16 others before shooting himself during his April 2 attack. (Fort Hood, you may recall, is the same post where Maj. Nidal Hassan killed more than a dozen people in 2009 in what many believe was an act of terrorism.)
Lopez, say reports, was currently undergoing an assessment to determine whether he had post-traumatic stress disorder. He was also currently undergoing psychiatric treatment for depression, which reports said included medication.
Lopez was no combat veteran
From The Associated Press:
The gunman, who served in Iraq for four months in 2011, had sought help for depression, anxiety and other problems. Before the attack, Lopez had been undergoing an assessment to determine whether he had post-traumatic stress disorder....
The married suspect had arrived at Fort Hood in February from another base in Texas. He was taking medication, and there were reports that he had complained after returning from Iraq about suffering a traumatic brain injury....
Why Lopez was being treated in the first place remains unclear; while he was being evaluated for PTSD, the fact is that he "self-reported" a traumatic brain injury, or TBI -- a condition common to veterans who have been affected by an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion (or explosions), which was a common form of enemy attack in Iraq and remains so in Afghanistan.
But according to military officials, Lopez did not see combat; he had not been awarded any combat-related ribbons, badges or medals. And though he was in a combat zone, it is not clear that he was ever exposed to any combat actions. Also, he was only in-country for four months, according to USA Today.
That, in and of itself, should have tipped off military psychiatric personnel that something else was likely contributing to Lopez's mental problems. Still, psych personnel had no qualms about prescribing him a dangerous, mood-and-mind-altering psychiatric drug, apparently.
"We do know that this soldier had behavioral health and mental health issues and was being treated for that," said Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, head of the Army's III Corps at the Texas post. "He was not wounded in action, [according] to our records."
In addition to being examined for signs of PTSD, Lopez was undergoing treatment for depression, anxiety and a "variety" of other issues, Milley said.
Ambien kills again?
Added USA Today:
Army Secretary John McHugh, the U.S. Army's top civilian official, said the soldier did not see combat during his deployment. The shooter also appeared to have no connections to extremist groups, McHugh said.
Indeed, Lopez's psych examination revealed no violent tendencies, according to reports; McHugh said he had been prescribed Ambien for sleep issues.
As Natural News editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, has reported, "Ambien is the powerful mind-altering drug known to contribute to 'sleep driving' and other bizarre events where patients taking the drug wake up to find themselves driving around town, shopping or walking the sidewalks in their sleepwear."
The late actor Heath Ledger was prescribed Ambien; so was pro football great Junior Seau, who committed suicide in 2012, just to name a few.
Finally, there is a gun control aspect to this and other similar shooting incidents. It is no secret that mass shooters choose "gun-free zones" to carry out their deeds, and military bases -- save for a limited number of police personnel -- are gun-free zones, as odd as that sounds. On active-duty bases, you can own personal firearms, but they have to be registered with base personnel and you cannot carry them on your person (though soldiers in combat zones are well armed and never involved in mass shootings on bases overseas).
The rationale for this is "public safety" on military bases, but clearly, leaving defenseless some of the best-trained personnel in the country in the handling and use of firearms while they are on post is a policy that needs reexamined, for obvious reasons.
Sources:
http://dfw.cbslocal.com
http://latino.foxnews.com
http://www.usatoday.com
http://www.naturalnews.com
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