I find it totally believable that one man could shoot that many people on a military base. I work on one. No one is armed except for base police. Seriously, any serviceman could cause a similar amount of damage tomorrow, on any San Diego area military base. The base security is focused on external threats more than internal and once you have gained access to base (ID and vehicle pass) there is no special security or physical barrier stopping anyone from doing something similar.
On a base the size of Fort Hood it could take a long time for word to get to the police and for them to respond. All accounts have the shooting going on for 3-5 minutes at least. That is plenty of time to cause that many victims. You had people trapped in a crowded building with no ability to defend themselves. Combat trained or not, an unarmed person has no chance against a shooter except to flee.
I don’t see what the harm is in calling a spade a spade. I think the administration is hesitant to call this terrorism to try and distance itself from the previous administration where absolutely everything was all about the War on Terror. Even if this guy turns out to be a terrorist sympathizer and not an actual recruited cell member, there is no practical difference.
This will be a military trial since it occurred by a military member on a military installation. Word is the last military death sentence carried out was in 1961, despite numerous inmates on death row. I think he’ll get the sentence but we’ll have to see if it is ever carried out.
Finally, I wish people would give the second police officer, Mark Todd, some credit as well. The details aren’t clear in the MSM but it looks like he is the one who actually took the guy down and secured him. He likely saved the life of Sgt. Munley as well.
